Today’s quick review: Just Married. Sarah (Brittany Murphy), a young woman from a wealthy family, defies her parents when she marries Tom (Ashton Kutcher), a small-time radio host with no class and no career prospects. But their love is put to the test during their honeymoon to Europe, where everything that can go wrong does.
Just Married is a romantic comedy about a newlywed couple whose marriage is nearly destroyed by a disastrous honeymoon. Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy star as Tom and Sarah, two very different people who are brought together by love. Just Married employs the usual madcap comedy tricks, such as accidents, arguments, and misunderstandings. But although the premise works on paper, the story and the humor both miss the mark.
Just Married fails to sell Tom and Sarah as a couple. They have nothing in common, with different interests, expectations, and personalities. They argue constantly, they keep secrets from each other, and neither one displays any maturity. While some of the conflict is justified for the sake of comedy, it leaves the story little to work with. The only thing keeping Tom and Sarah together is passion, and even that comes across as forced.
This central problem weakens everything else the movie tries to do. Without the spark of love between Sarah and Tom, the audience has no real reason to want their relationship to work. The jokes are mediocre but could have been salvaged if the leads had better chemistry. And while the theme of love uniting people from different backgrounds is a classic one, the movie does not have a solid foundation to ignore it.
The result is a mediocre romantic comedy that only goes through the motions. Fans of Ashton Kutcher may get something out of Just Married, and anyone in the mood for light humor and marital arguments could do worse. But Just Married is missing the originality and the passion of its competition, making it an easy movie to skip.
For a sharper romantic comedy featuring Ashton Kutcher in an acrimonious marriage, try What Happens in Vegas. For another romantic comedy about a honeymoon gone wrong, try Honeymoon in Vegas or The Long, Long Trailer. For another comedy about a married couple on a nightmare trip, try The Out-of-Towners. For a crime comedy about Americans out of place in Europe, try Murder Mystery or Once Upon a Crime.
[5.5 out of 10 on IMDB](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0305711/). I give it the same for weak chemistry and a flimsy plot.