ISN’T IT ROMANTIC (2019) – My rating: 5.5/10

Isn’t It Romantic is a satirical romantic comedy directed by Todd Strauss-chulson and written by Erin Cardillo, Dana Fox, and Katie Silberman. Isn’t It Romantic follows a young woman who gets hit on the head and wakes up in a parallel world where everything around her plays out like a romantic comedy. The film has grossed over $47 million and received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised Wilson’s performance.

Isn’t It Romantic opens in Australia, during the early 1990s, with a young Natalie (Rebel Wilson) watching the romantic comedy, Pretty Woman.  Natalie’s mother (Jennifer Saunders) crushes her spirit and enthusiasm by telling her that women like them (heavy set and not drop dead gorgeous) don’t get happy endings in real life.

Fast forward twenty-five years; Natalie is working as an architect in New York City. She has low self-esteem and is treated as a pushover by her colleagues. To add insult to injury, at a key meeting where Natalie was to present her ideas to a  new handsome, billionaire, client named Blake (Liam Hemsworth), he mistakes her for an assistant and askes her to get him a cup of coffee.  Humiliated, she storms out of the meeting and catches her friend/assistant, Whitney (Betty Gilpin) watching “The Wedding Singer”. Natalie reprimands Whitney then starts spewing cynical rants about romantic comedies and their clichés. Hoping to boost Natalie’s spirit, Josh (Adam DeVine) invites her to a karaoke bar but she declines.

**** SOME SPOILERS BELOW ****

On her way home from the office, Natalie is accosted by a mugger on the subway. After a brief struggle in which she ultimately repels her attacker, she knocks herself unconscious by clumsily walking head-first into a steel girder. When Natalie wakes up, she finds herself in a hospital and is greeted by an attractive doctor, who immediately starts flirting with her. Unnerved and confused, Natalie leaves the hospital, walks outside and notices, New York now looks and smells much better than it usually does. Suddenly, she is almost hit by a limousine, which contains an apologetic, genial version of Blake, who is now speaking with an Australian accent. Blake drops her off at home, before leaving he writes his phone number on flower petals, which he then dumps haphazardly into her upturned hat.  Still confused, Natalie enters her apartment, she finds it to be much larger and nicer than before. Her previously-unruly dog is now well-groomed and obedient, her closet is stocked with a dazzling array of clothes and shoes.  So everything looks, smells, acts and appears better in a world that seems the same but is not.

Isn’t It Romantic is not a new concept but a very cute one with a message for those who are non-emphatic or bullies to others. This is a simple story and what I call a fill in when there’s nothing else available.  The movie runs 1 hour 29 minutes and is really a teenage fantasy masquerading as an adult comedy.  You probably can predict the rest of this story and be absolutely correct.  I think it’s a decent comedy for a young person, however I don’t recommend you actually spend money to see it, unless you’re renting it from Amazon or Netflix.  Isn’t It Romantic is not due to be released on DVD until  May 21, 2019.  Check It Out!

 

ALLEGIANCE – My rating – 9/10

There are several series out that deal with national and international affairs but there are none that deal on the level of Allegiance.  A couple, Katya (Hope Davis) and Mark O’Connor (Scott Cohen) are retired Russian spies or as the pilot suggest, current sleeper cells.  The O’Connor’s have 3 children, Natalie (Margarita Levieva),  Alex (Gavin Stenhouse) and Sarah (Alexandra Peters).  Sarah is also a Russian Sleeper Cell but her brother, Alex is a gifted CIA analyst who is assigned to a joint FBI/CIA investigation into a SVR plot to destroy critical infrastructure within the United States.  Their younger sister, Sarah, has no clue as to the whole spy endeavor.  Alex also has no clue about his sister, Natalie, or his parents true lifestyle.  In fact Katya is the only family member originally from Russia.  She recruited her husband and daughter.  Katya and her husband have no desire to spy or carry out any Russian task but are being threatened by the SVR ( Sluzhba Vneshnei Razvedki (Russian Foreign Intelligence Service; post cold war intelligence service).  As an alternative to recruiting their son, Alex, who is “unrecruitable”, the O’Connors have agreed to spy on their son, giving the SVR access and information that will keep them several steps ahead of the FBI and CIA during their investigations regarding their (Russia’s) plot against the US.  Allegiance is very well written and very informative.  I find the series intelligent, entertaining and suspenseful.  I think it’s going to be around for a while.  Allegiance airs on NBC — check it out!

Obviously, I really liked this series, however, I just found out it’s been cancelled after 5 episodes.

DIVERGENT (2014) – My rating 8/10

The trailers on Divergent were a little fuzzy, as I didn’t really get what the movie was all about.  Now that I’ve seen it, I have to do a little comparison to The Hunger Games.  Like the Hunger Games, the world was categorized into sections.  In Divergent, there is 1 choice from the existing 5 categories one can choose to spend their life perusing.  There’s no going back once the choice is made.  Like Hunger Games, the government totally rules every aspect of your life.

The one thing you don’t want to be is a Divergent.  Being a Divergent is a death sentence since a Divergent cannot be controlled.  The movie starts out with a seemingly normal family.  Ashley Judd plays Natalie, the mother.  Tony Goldwyn of TVs Scandal plays Andrew, the father.  Their son and daughter (Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley) plays Caleb and Tris, respectively.  The 2 children have come of age to be tested and classified in one of the 5 categories.  The adventure starts when the children pick their respective category and begin their life training.  The movie focuses mainly on Tris who is the Divergent.   Kate Winslet plays one of the villains and does quite a convincing job.  While Divergent doesn’t quite reach the heights of The Hunger Games, it is close enough to rake in mega bucks and earn a place on the box office hall of fame.  I wasn’t jumping up and down but I was entertained.  All in all, not bad.