Marry Me

image for Marry Me

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Not suitable under 12; parental guidance to 14 (mild themes, sexual references, coarse language)

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This topic contains:

  • overall comments and recommendations
  • details of classification and consumer advice lines for Marry Me
  • a review of Marry Me completed by the Australian Council on Children and the Media (ACCM) on 16 February 2022.

Overall comments and recommendations

Children under 12 Not suitable due to themes, sexual references and language.
Children aged 12–14 Parental guidance recommended due to themes, sexual references and language.
Children over the age of 14 Ok for this age group.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Australian Government Classification Board and the associated consumer advice lines. Other classification advice (OC) is provided where the Australian film classification is not available.

Name of movie: Marry Me
Classification: PG
Consumer advice lines: Mild themes, sexual references, coarse language
Length: 112 minutes

ACCM review

This review of the movie contains the following information:

A synopsis of the story

Music superstar, Kat Valdez (Jennifer Lopez), is about to marry Bastian (Maluma), the man of her dreams. It will be a wedding the likes of which the world has never seen. These two pop icons will end a music tour by performing their hit single, Marry Me, and will then tie the knot before an audience of 20 million viewers. Coolidge High math teacher, and single dad, Charlie (Owen Wilson), has never heard of Kat Valdez but in an effort to show his young daughter, Lou (Chloe Coleman), that he is actually fun, he agrees to them accompanying his lesbian colleague, Parker (Sarah Silverman), to the concert/wedding after she was dumped last minute by her girlfriend. Moments before going onstage to take her vows, Kat sees an online post showing Bastian cheating with her assistant. Utterly devastated, Kat addresses the audience and looks out to see Charlie holding a sign saying, ‘Marry Me’, that Parker had just inadvertently passed him. Deciding to be spontaneous and embrace the moment, Kat says she will marry the man with the sign instead of the man who just broke her heart. Completely stunned, yet encouraged by his daughter and the vast audience around him, Charlie goes ahead and marries Kat. No one can believe what has happened. Bastian leaves for Puerto Rico, determined to win her back; Kat’s managers hatch a plan to make things work while the media frenzy dies down; and Charlie wants his simple, media-free life back and is worried how all the attention will impact Lou. But, despite all the obstacles they face and the fact that their worlds could not be any more different, that magical moment where they both took a leap of faith may turn out to be the best decision either of them has ever made.

Themesinfo

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Separated parents and parents remarrying; Betrayal: Infidelity; The perils of fame; Obsession and reliance on social media: Bullying and media manipulation.

Use of violenceinfo

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some violence in this movie, including:

  • Bastian tries to grab Kat. As she moves away there is pushing and shoving as he tries to pursue her and security guards stop him.
  • Kat throws a rock through a window.

Material that may scare or disturb children

Under fiveinfo

Children under five are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations.

  • None noted.

Aged five to eightinfo

Children aged five to eight will also be frightened by scary visual images and will also be disturbed by depictions of the death of a parent, a child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

  • None noted.

Aged eight to thirteeninfo

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

  • Nothing further of concern.

Product placement

The following products are displayed or used in this movie:

  • Managers and, at times, characters themselves are tracking social media platforms that show ‘likes’ or ‘emojis’ as well as comments to photos, videos and posts. Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok are all mentioned by name.
  • iPhones are shown and used.
  • Kat does a promo for the Vitamix blender, uses it in other scenes and is also shown promoting it on billboards.
  • Kat appears on the Jimmy Fallon Show and there are other excerpts from his show broadcast throughout the film.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including:

  • Kat tells how her former husband made a sex tape of them and later sold it.
  • Bastian is rumoured to have had an affair with Kat’s assistant. This later proves to be true. He is also very flirty with other women.
  • Numerous references are made about how Bastian cheated.
  • While kissing Kat, Charlies asks if he is about to have the best night of his life.
  • In the end credits a couple share how they hooked up at the Jimmy Fallon show but had sex later.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie, including:

  • Kat wears a very risqué costume while performing on stage. It amounts to little more than a sequined G-string and bikini top and leaves little to the imagination. Many of the dance moves are also quite twerky.
  • Kat and Charlie kiss passionately on a few occasions.
  • Kat wears some very low cut and revealing outfits. Including a dress with a neckline that plunges down her chest and exposes side cleavage.
  • Charlie is shown in bed, the morning after, with a bare chest while Kat stands in the doorway wearing nothing but his shirt. Sex is not shown but implied.

Use of substances

There is some use of substances in this movie, including:

  • Adults are seen drinking at parties and promotional events.

Coarse language

There is some coarse language in this movie, including:

  • “Jesus” is used as an exclamation.
  • Shit
  • Bullshit
  • Hell
  • Ass.

In a nutshell

Marry Me is a romantic comedy that makes you root for the underdog and reminds you that, for some, not everything always adds up the way you initially think it will. While the plot may be somewhat predictable, it features a wonderful cast and some excellent new songs. The film will be most enjoyed by mature or older teen and largely female audiences.

The main messages from this movie are to believe in the magic of a leap of faith; that if you sit in a question long enough the answer will find you; and that if you want something different you need to do something different.

Values in this movie that parents may wish to reinforce with their children include:

  • Compassion
  • Courage
  • Trust
  • Helpfulness
  • Integrity
  • Sacrifice.

This movie could also give parents the opportunity to discuss with their children attitudes and behaviours, and their real-life consequences, such as:

  • The negative effects of bullying on others.
  • Being critical and negative of others, either in real life or in on-line platforms.
  • The powers (both good and bad) of social media and the harm it can do when used inappropriately.
  • Betraying those you claim to love or acting in a way that is hurtful to others.
  • Excessive consumerism and media manipulation.