Priyanka Chopra's third Hollywood film, Isn't it Romantic, opened in theatres two weeks ago in the US. The anti-romantic comedy has been released in India on Netflix. The movie has been watched by yours truly, and the things I have to go through for this job are truly commendable. I was really rooting for this movie. Firstly because Rebel Wilson is pure awesomeness and she not only stars in it but is also the executive producer. Then the trailer of Isn't It Romantic was damn fun. And finally, Priyanka! All three reasons fail the movie, for me. Priyanka Chopra's Isn't It Romantic? Earns A Decent $24 Million At The US Box Office In The First Week.

Isn't it Romantic tells the story of Natalie (Rebel) who hates romantic comedies because of how deprived of reality those movies are. After a concussion, she wakes up in a parallel universe - a personalised romantic comedy of her own life. She hates it, obviously. She has to figure out a way to get out of this PG-13 alternate reality and reach her own world. She navigates her new life as she comes across familiar faces of Priyanka, Liam Hemsworth and Adam DeVine. The idea sounds incredible good on paper, but is poorly executed.

The best thing about Isn't It Romantic is that it is very self-aware. It knows that it is following the tropes exactly while making fun of them. It revels in the cliches of romantic comedies and for a good amount of time it is fun to watch.

The problem with the movie is that it doesn't really commit to it. If its a parody of romantic comedies, then go all out. If it's a commentary on how juvenile romantic comedies are then it needed to have more emotional substance. It ends up being just a comedy about romantic comedy, when there was potential to go beyond that.

The good laughs aren't consistent but aren't completely missing either. The problem with Rebel's performance is that it is so Rebel. I just did not see her bring something new to the table. We have seen this before. Priyanka hardly gets to do something in the movie, but she also doesn't completely commits to the concept of the dumb romcom bimbo.

Props to Brandon Scott Jones, who plays Natalie's gay neighbour and her sidekick in an alternate reality. The actor commits to the role and how. His portrayal of the gay character is downright offensive and highly problematic. Even Natalie says that he sets the gay rights back by a hundred years. And, surprisingly, I am not criticising the movie here. His character and his performance are self-aware. By being the stereotype EXTRA gay, he makes a commentary on how homosexual characters are treated in movies. Something that the rest of the movie fails to do.

For a change men don't get to do much in the film. Adam and Liam are fine in their performances. We get to see a new side of Liam, which is fun.

All in all, the movie is an opportunity lost for me. There could have been an entire franchise made out of Isn't it Romantic if it was executed properly.

Yayy

- Few jokes are laugh-worthy

- Natalie's gay neighbour teaches Hollywood a lesson in how not to write gay characters

- The two dance numbers

- You will have fun watching romantic comedy tropes come to life

Nayy

- I didn't really know that Natalie did not love herself for it to be a lesson in the end. I mean you can hate romantic comedies, and still be madly in love with yourself. No? The establishment of the fact that she doesn't like herself enough should have been more sepcific.

- Priyanka could have been goofier giving us more laughs in the process.

-  Lack of any proper explanation as to why everything in the movie was happening.

Conclusion

Isn't it Romantic is not half as entertaining as many romantic comedies out there. It is not bashful enough for anti-rom-com community to watch it. It is not cheesy enough for rom-com lovers to enjoy it. If you lie somewhere in the middle of that spectrum, you will enjoy the film.

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(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 02, 2019 09:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).