ROM-COM-ISHNESS MOCKED............."ISN'T IT ROMANTIC"

Isn't It Romantic (2019)     The question is.........does this movie mark the end of rom-coms as we know them........and if it does.......what replaces them?

           Usually, a movie like this, one that mocks a well-worn genre without mercy, signals the beginning of the end of that genre.

             But relax, rom-com fans. Even a sly spoof like "Isn't It Romantic"  can't kill romance. Boy Meets Girl has been a storytelling staple since Neanderthals carved out an early version of "When Harry Met Sally" on the side of  caves.

              You can make fun of these movies from now until forever but it'll never change our craving for love 'n happy endings......it's built into our DNA.

               Not that rom-coms didn't have it coming.......the most blatant tropes take a colossal  beating here......the flagrantly gay next-door-neighbor-best-friend, the impromptu musical numbers  where total strangers suddenly all  lock-step into intricate choreography......and best of all, the pristine, Architectural Digest design of the Rom-Com universe - spotless, precious boutique shops and grandly specious homes that only fictitious Rom-Com-ites could afford.......

               Rebel Wilson's trip to this fantasy world, as carefully laid out as Oz, Neverland and Wonderland, comes courtesy of a coma-inducing subway mugging.....(instead of tornado or a fall down the rabbit hole....)

              And just like Dorothy Gale, she's alternately outraged and frustrated by the fairly lunatic behavior of Rom-ComWorld denizens......the dazzling hunk (a good sport performance by Liam Hemsworth, very similar to brother Chris's work in the all-girl "Ghostbusters"), the too-gorgeous-to-live romantic rival (Priyanka Chopra)......and as previously mentioned, that wildly un-woke, politically incorrect Froot Loop gay gay (Brandon Scott Jones, channeling decades worth of gay steroptypes).......Like Dorothy, Rebel just want to go home.

                Two things make this film work well......Number One - Rebel Wilson's lethal, laser-focused comedic timing........ as she perfectly nails every moment, she's literally poetry in motion.......I can't even imagine how excruciating this movie would be without her......

                Number Two - director Todd Strauss-Schulson's full comprehension that this is the flimsiest premise on which to base an entire feature film.  He keeps it moving super-fast and brings it in under 90 minutes.  Wilson and Strauss-Schulson are the true power couple of this movie.

                  But fear not, Rom-Com-istas......."Isn't It Romantic" won't cause any lasting damage to the genre......your favorite kind of movies currently flourishe on Netflix.....(and, if you can live with the carved-on-stone-tablets, Kabuki-Haiku structure of them, Hallmark movies....).

                  So lighten up and have some silly fun with this one. It's a hoot. 3 stars (***).