Just Married

Just Married is a 2003 American romantic comedy film directed by Shawn Levy, written by Sam Harper, and stars Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy. Produced by Robert Simonds, the film was successful at the box office despite generally negative critical reviews.

For other uses, see Just Married (disambiguation).
Just Married
Theatrical release poster
Directed byShawn Levy
Produced byRobert Simonds
Lauren Shuler Donner
Written bySam Harper
Starring
Music byChristophe Beck
CinematographyJonathan Brown
Edited byScott Hill
Don Zimmerman
Distributed by20th Century Fox
Release date
  • January 10, 2003 (2003-01-10)
Running time
95 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$18 million[1]
Box office$101.5 million[1]

Plot

The film opens with Tom and Sarah in the airport, then flashes back from the moment they met up to the present. Working-class Tom Leezak and upper-class Sarah McNerney meet up when Tom accidentally hits Sarah with a football. A few months later, despite opposition from Sarah's rich family, they get married. They have kept a secret from each other: Tom doesn't tell Sarah that he accidentally killed her dog and Sarah doesn't tell Tom that she slept with Peter Prentiss, a childhood friend and her family's friend, after she and Tom started dating.

Flying to Europe for their honeymoon, they attempt to consummate their marriage by joining the mile high club, but fail rather publicly. They arrive at their classy hotel at the foot of the Alps to find that Peter has sent them a bottle of cognac "with love", while Tom's friend Kyle has sent them a Thunderstick A-200 sex toy. Tom tries to force the toy's American plug into the European outlet and he shuts down the entire village's electricity. The newlyweds leave the hotel after Tom has a heated argument with the hotel owner and pays a large bill to repair the power. While trying to find another hotel they crash their undersized car into a snowbank, stuck until daylight and once again unable to consummate their marriage.

They make their way to Venice, staying at a pensione recommended by Tom's father. The pensione turns out to be a wreck, and they soon check out after a cockroach crawls over Tom when they tried to have sex.

The couple secure a nice Venetian hotel with the grudging financial help of Sarah's father. They go sightseeing, but Tom quickly gets bored and abandons Sarah so he can watch sports in a bar. Sarah runs into Peter, who is staying at their hotel on business. This prompts her to initiate a conversation with Tom in which he reveals that he accidentally killed her dog and she reveals she slept with Peter. The couple storm out of the hotel and each go their separate ways: Tom going back to the bar, where he meets American tourist Wendy, and Sarah going sightseeing, where Peter follows her. Wendy flirts and dances with Tom, who escapes through a bathroom window when he realizes she wants to have sex with him. He returns to the hotel, only to learn from the maître d' that Sarah has gone out with Peter for the evening. Tom returns to the bar, only to be accosted by Wendy again. Tom tries to think of a clever way to get out of his situation, and finds himself tricked into walking her to his hotel room, where the girl rips off her top before Tom blurts out that he's on his honeymoon, upon which the girl finally leaves.

Sarah gets drunk so Peter takes her back to the hotel. When he kisses her at the entrance, she slaps him and reminds him that she's on her honeymoon. Tom sees the kiss from the balcony but not the slap. When Tom confronts her in their room, Sarah finds Wendy's bra. Peter bursts in to ask Sarah to run away with him to Seattle, leading to a fight that lands Tom and Sarah in jail – still without consummating their marriage. Peter bails them out and the couple angrily decide to go home to Los Angeles, returning to the opening moments of the film.

Sarah has moved out and Tom wants to get back with her. Upon receiving advice from his father, Tom attempts to see Sarah at her family's estate, but gives up after unsuccessfully trying to ram the gate. However, Sarah opens the gate herself after seeing Tom make a romantic speech to the camera and the two rush out to proclaim their love for each other. Sarah's family finally accepts Tom and Sarah's relationship.

Cast

Reception

Box office

Just Married was successful at the box office. On a modest budget of $18 million, the film went on to gross $56,127,162 domestically and earned an additional $45,437,773 in foreign box office receipts, giving it a total worldwide gross of $101,564,935.[1]

Critical response

Just Married was released to generally negative critical reviews. At Rotten Tomatoes it has score of 20% based on 110 reviews, and the website's consensus states: "Just Married's plot is predictable, and the overdone pratfalls get tiresome."[2] At Metacritic the film has a score of 28 out of 100 based on reviews from 27 critics indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[3] Two out of five stars from MSN.[4] Roger Ebert gave the film ​1 1⁄2 stars out of 4 stars, and called it a dumb sitcom.[5]

The film earned three nominations at the 24th Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Actor for Ashton Kutcher (also for Cheaper by the Dozen and My Boss's Daughter), Worst Supporting Actress for Brittany Murphy and Worst Screen Couple for both Kutcher and Murphy (also for My Boss's Daughter with Tara Reid), but failed to win in each of these categories, losing to Ben Affleck (Daredevil, Gigli and Paycheck), Demi Moore (Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle) and both Affleck and Jennifer Lopez (Gigli) respectively.[6][7]

References
  1. "Just Married (2003)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  2. Just Married Movie Reviews, Pictures. Fandango Media Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2018-05-17.
  3. Just Married. CBS Interactive Metacritic. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  4. Just Married Overview Archived 2009-01-23 at the Wayback Machine. MSN. Retrieved 2010-11-26.
  5. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/just-married-2003
  6. Silverman, Stephen M. (January 26, 2004). "J.Lo Heads List of Razzie Nominees". People. Meredith Corporation. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  7. Germain, David (March 1, 2004). "'Gigli' voted worst in Raspberry Awards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Block Communications. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
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