The romantic comedy has a long and storied history, and has its roots from the very beginning of cinema, spanning the course from the silent era to the period of screwball comedies, right until the present day. These films are amongst the most popular, but they are also the most predictable, and are often material for ridicule, mainly because of how conventional they are, and how they all seem to follow the same basic structure. This very idea was the premise of Isn’t It Romantic, a charming satire from Todd Strauss-Schulson, who deconstructs the genre and comments on its tropes and flaws in much the same way that his terrific The Final Girls commented on the tropes of the slasher genre. A film that was unexpectedly brilliant for a number of reasons, Isn’t It Romantic has a great concept, and it commits to it fully. Furthermore, it is led by an extraordinary Rebel Wilson, giving a more mature and nuanced performance than we are used to, and a cast of some remarkable performers who are also equally great with the material they are given. It is a film composed of a number of moments that range from broadly hilarious to bitingly scathing to extremely touching – and while this isn’t the first film that tries to subvert the conventions of its subject, it certain dedicates itself to honouring is premise, and captivates the audience fully, finding remarkable heartfulness along the way.

Natalie (Rebel Wilson) lives an imperfect life – she works as an architect for a prestigious firm in New York City, where she is treated as more of an assistant than one of their brightest contributors. She lives in a bad neighbourhood, and hardly anyone would dare notice her, with the exception of her best friend (Adam DeVine), who is secretly in love with her. Her assistant (Betty Gilpin) spends her working hours watching romantic comedies, which Natalie has grown to abhor, mainly because of how false they appear, and how they have presented audiences with an impossible vision of the world that just cannot be feasible, not to mention they are so predictable, which is certainly not a feature of reality. However, an accident leaves Natalie in a brief coma, and when she awakes, she finds herself transported to an alternate world, where everything is going so well in her life – she is recognized as the star architect, every man she encounters seems to fall hopelessly in love with her, specifically rich and powerful investor (Liam Hemsworth). She has everything she could ever want – wealth, a gay best friend and enough adoration from those around her…her life as quite literally become a romantic comedy, and as pleasant as it could be, she is desperate to return to her own life – but what does it take for everything to go back to normal?

If you have read some of my previous reviews, you’ll know that a cinematic pet peeve of mine is predictability – there seems to be a skeletal structure in a number of genres, upon which nearly all films within that genre are built. Not only is it unoriginal, but it also becomes excruciatingly boring to be able to predict how the story will progress because we have essentially seen this same story presented so many times before. Moreover, if you’ve read some of my previous reviews, you’ll also know that postmodernism is an area that fascinates me – and Isn’t It Romantic is primarily a postmodern deconstruction of the romantic comedy genre. As mentioned before, the director’s previous film, The Final Girls was a marvellous commentary on the highly-successful but nonetheless predictable slasher genre, and with this film, he is bringing the same biting cynicism to the romantic comedy genre, looking at it through a cynical perspective. As long as art has been made, there have been detractors that satirize it – and where Isn’t It Romantic succeeds is not only does it have the idea to deconstruct the genre, it has the confidence to actually pull it off successfully, to the point where it sees a vast number of chances, and takes every one of them. There is not a missed opportunity throughout this film, and this only the product of filmmakers who are in perfect understanding of their craft, as well as a keen ability to look at the genre and its little eccentricities, extracting the small defining features and using them in a way that seems entirely authentic. Isn’t It Romantic is a film that should certainly achieve higher status, because while it certainly won’t appeal to everyone, its originality is undeniable, and its ability to not only satirize bad romantic comedies but also correct its flaws and become a great one on its own terms. We are living in a postmodern age, so it only makes sense that we get a romantic comedy that raises doubts about metanarratives and challenges conventions. In short, Isn’t It Romantic is a lot deeper than it would appear.

Rebel Wilson has hardly been the definition of nuance, and while it is certainly not her fault, as she was trying to make it in an industry that typecast her in a very specific kind of role, she hasn’t extended herself in the way she seems to be capable of. This certainly did change with Isn’t It Romantic, a film that sees Wilson taking the central role, and shows herself to be effortlessly charming, and a terrific leading performer who can carry a film by herself, navigating the trials of tribulations of our protagonist with great finesse. Wilson has a big personality, which is probably why, for better or worse, she has forged herself a career in mainstream Hollywood. Isn’t It Romantic affords her the opportunity to abandon the roles that were clearly below her, and rather take on something interesting. It is a role that is funny, upbeat and inspiring, as it relies only on her exceptional charms – and there are few performers who could criticize the romantic comedy genre while still appearing in one with as much brilliance as her. Acting across from her is a cast of supporting players that all excel – in particular is Adam DeVine who is at his most adorable and lovable, playing the endearing best friend who is secretly in love with our protagonist (a fact she is obviously not aware of), Betty Gilpin as her dedicated best friend-turned-bitter rival, and Priyanka Chopra as the epitome of perfection, a self-proclaimed “yoga ambassador” whose sweet demeanour masks her adversarial nature. I actually remember that Liam Hemsworth was in this film, so I’d say that is a massive leap forward for an actor who rarely makes much of an impact. Brandon Scott Jones has a small but memorable role, and between Isn’t It Romantic and Can You Ever Forgive Me?, he seems to have good prospects for the future (and not only in films that ask questions in the title). A fair number of these performers had the difficult task to play two vastly different versions of the same character, which allows for them to give some pretty remarkable performances. As a whole, the cast of Isn’t It Romantic was tremendously good at interpreting these characters that are far from straightforward and required sincere dedication from the actors, all of which rose admirably to the opportunity.

Isn’t It Romantic tries extremely hard to be funny, and to my great surprise, it actually succeeded. Whether it be through the fact that this is an exceptionally well-written film, featuring an incredibly clever script that is brimming with jokes that are genuinely funny, or the commitment that went into the making of the film – New York City has never looked so hideous and so beautiful before in a single film, and all it took was some production design and a lot of detail into portraying the same space in two vastly different ways. However, the most remarkable success of Isn’t It Romantic comes in how it pulls off its premise with such great finesse, dedicating itself fully to the idiosyncrasies of its unique, and perhaps quite difficult, concept. Isn’t It Romantic may eventually devolve into the very thing it criticizes (an intentional choice, perhaps?), it is impossible to resist the charms of this wonderful film, which may have an audacious idea at its core but remains humble and unassuming. It is satirical without being mean-spirited, and while it is cleverly sardonic in its approach to looking at the genre, it doesn’t ridicule it to the point where it becomes excessive, being able to make fun not only of the romantic comedy genre but also of itself, never taking itself too seriously. Naturally, there is a happy ending – but rather than being manufactured, the sentimentality is authentic and the product of its meaningful message at its core. Everything just fits so well within this film, and quite frankly, Isn’t It Romantic had no right to be as charming as it was.

Isn’t It Romantic  is a tricky film – based only on its premise, it may not appeal to everyone – and first glance could cause the potential viewer to mistake this for just another dull romantic comedy when it is anything but this. There is a heartfulness to this film that just cannot be resisted. It may not be the most stimulating film (although there are some moments of unhinged brilliance lurking throughout the film), but it has a genuine fondness for its story, and it executes its concept perfectly. Most importantly, there is a message at the core that is quite touching – for a film primarily focused on romance, it is remarkably focused on something else, and that is what makes the difference. In spite of our protagonist’s search for love, Isn’t It Romantic is a film primarily about loving yourself, which may just be the most romantic story of them all.