Genre I’d put it in: Easy To Enjoy JLo Rom-coms
Release Date: 2022
Remake, Sequel, Based-On, or Original: Based on the graphic novel of the same name by Bobby Crosby. And fellow rom-com addicts will note the usual-but-well-loved clichés and plot beats in this film adaptation.
Story: Kat Valdez is one part of a pop star couple known throughout the world. In fact, she’s planning on marrying her beloved Bastian on stage, singing their new song “Marry Me”. Sweet, right? Um, one problem; Bastian has been cheating on Kat, and she finds out right when she’s about to go on-stage, wearing her wedding dress. So instead of having a public breakdown, she notices regular-guy/cool high school math teacher Charlie Gilbert holding a “Marry ME” sign (that his friend Parker brought)…and decides what the hell. What a fairy tale, right? Bingo! Let the rom-com fun begin!
Gotta say: Me is the perfect double feature with fellow “famous person meets regular schlub” stories like Notting Hill. Or, if you’re going from war of the J-Lo night? Team this one up with the “economically disparate pair fall in love” story Maid to Order. But any way you choose to watch this – and if you’re into rom-coms you’re gonna watch this, I know you (I DO KNOW YOU) – you’re gonna enjoy yourself. Why? Because while Me isn’t doing anything new, the megawatt presence of Lopez and Maluna, coupled with Wilson’s sweetness and a cadre of A+ talent rounding out the cast? This film is almost daring you to not enjoy yourself. Don’t take that bet y’all. You’ll lose. Gladly.
The usual complete opposites fall in love story is large and in charge here. Kat’s stratospherically famous and all up in every single social media thingamajig known to man, and Charlie is a tweed jacket wearing high school math teacher who still has a flip phone. But soon, he’s checking out her rehearsals, and she’s helping his mathletes (the “Pi-thons” – and yeah that’s adorable) get past the stage fright that’s been torpedoing their meets. She starts putting real-life into her schedule, and he begins to use social media for his beloved math department. Super cute getting-to-know-you scenes abound, and they actually feel genuine thanks to the on-screen chemistry between Lopez and Wilson.
Feels like a lot of Kat’s dialogue is coming straight from her heart, or at least she’s pulling from real life. Lopez injects scenes where Kat tries to be herself with a touch of “they go to bed with Gilda and wake up with me” vibes, which makes the character and her arc compelling. The fact that Lopez is an excellent actress doesn’t hurt either. Wilson’s Charlie is a perfect Everyman foil for Lopez’s Kat, absorbing it all, trying to figure out where/if he fits, and finding that Kat’s introduction into his life is just the thing he needs to help his relationship with his teenage daugher Lou (played with subdued realism by Chloe Coleman, who has me rethinking the whole “kids in rom-coms are too twee for words” thing.)
If you’ve read this far? Congratulations – you’re a member of the Rom-Com Tribe. Welcome. So go watch Me. And stay through the main part of the end credits. Because you’ll not only be treated to funy epilogues for many of the characters, but super cute clips of real life couples and how they first met. It’s adorable and you know it’s adorable.
#Protip: Dig the vibe of Jennifer Lopez and Maluma singing together? Me too. But dig this; one scene where they share the stage happened at one of Maluma’s real-life concerts. Because why not? No wonder this film feels so legit.
