Just Married (2003)

Directed by: Shawn Levy | 95 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Brittany Murphy, Ashton Kutcher, Christian Kane, David Moscow, Raymond J. Barry, Monet Mazur, David Rasche, Thad Luckinbill, David Agranov, Taran Killam, Toshi Toda, George Gaynes, Massimo Schina, Valeria Andrews, Alex Thomas

Tom Leezak is a traffic jam reporter on the radio and is played by Ashton Kutcher. He has an unfinished education. Sarah McNerny (Brittany Murphy) has a degree in art history. He lives in a small room with a friend, she sometimes lives in a house on the beach, sometimes in a very luxurious villa with her parents, sister and brothers. A ‘match made in heaven’, isn’t it? However, their relationship is gaining momentum. Within a few weeks they live together and within a year they are engaged. Sarah’s wealthy parents are not happy about this and would have preferred Sarah to marry Peter Prentiss, because this also happens to be business-related. The marriage begins with two secrets: Sarah won’t admit that she ever slept with Peter, and Tom withholds the truth about the cause of Sarah’s dog’s death.

During their honeymoon in Europe, the infatuation/love is tested by a series of disasters. A car that is too small, a hotel that catches fire after the couple try to plug in a “love tool”, a hotel with very thin walls, it just doesn’t stop. The differences between Sarah and Tom soon become clear, she wants to do touristy things, he prefers to watch sports in an American bar.

One thing that argues for ‘Just Married’ is that the chemistry between the two protagonists is certainly not lacking. Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy also had a brief romance off-screen, which may have something to do with it. The character Brittany Murphy plays is very nice, but Ashton Kutcher plays a very annoying boy, who you don’t understand that Sarah likes. He behaves like a prototype of an American tourist in Europe, loud, selfish and stubborn. He is unreasonably addicted to sports and a lot has to make way for that. Peter Prentiss, his great rival, is too likable to be disliked and that’s actually not true in the movie. The creators probably thought that the old concept of “rich girl and poor boy fall in love against the wishes of the rich parents” was enough to sympathize with Tom Leezak, but it doesn’t really work. After experiencing the disastrous honeymoon, it doesn’t really matter to you that the two are apart. This film may do well with young people under sixteen, above that few people will appreciate the bland humor.