After a short romance, Tom and Sarah decide to get married. It seems as though maybe the romance is doomed from the start, as they both come from very different backgrounds, and suffice it to say, Sarah’s upper-class family is not at all impressed with Tom. Not only that, but a friend of the family wants Sarah for himself, and he’s far more in line with what her parents had hoped for her in terms of a husband. That doesn’t stop Tom and Sarah from going through with the wedding anyway and soon, they embark on the honeymoon from hell, which has them questioning their union and future together.
This is one of those early 2000s rom-coms that I never got around to watching. I found it scrolling HBO Max and decided to give it a watch. I like Ashton Kutcher (for the most part) and I have always enjoyed Brittany Murphy as an actress.
Unfortunately, the movie doesn’t quite get there for me. While the movie itself is very predictable, it’s lacking in an actual plot. Essentially, you’re watching a movie about a pretty bad honeymoon and that’s it. After a while, the lame gaffes get a bit tired, especially because there’s nothing substantial surrounding them.
Kutcher and Murphy were dating during the filming of Just Married, but that might have been a detriment to the “quality” of the film because I was not very impressed with their on-screen chemistry. Murphy didn’t have much to work with in terms of comedy and Kutcher really overdid it on his end. I’m sure it was meant to push an “opposites attract” romance, but it came off as a bit off-kilter and forced.
I obviously don’t mind various tropes being done to death if the movie can do something new with them, something interesting, but Just Married doesn’t seem to even try. Everything in this movie has been done before and done better. All that being said, I did think there were various parts of the movie that were pretty cute and I did chuckle once or twice, thanks to a few of Kutcher’s quips. If I enjoyed anything in the movie, it was when Kutcher and Murphy were at each other’s throats, rather than when they were basking in the glow of their marriage. That’s the only time I ever felt any spark between the two.
