We Hit Peak Rom-Com With ‘The Wedding Planner’

They don’t make ‘em like they used to. In fact, they don’t really make them at all anymore. Romantic comedies, or rom-coms, as they are affectionately referred to today, are no longer being produced with the frequency they once were. A few theories why: they don’t guarantee as big of a box office as superheroes, audiences need more edge or raunch to their love stories (à la Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates, or even Trainwreck), and finally: they peaked in 2001.
In that year, we saw the release of movies such as Legally Blonde, Save The Last Dance, The Princess Diaries, Bridget Jones’s Diary, and, the most perfect of all, The Wedding Planner.
If there is a formula for creating a rom-com, The Wedding Planner followed all the steps carefully, and then improved on it. Since its release 15 years ago, there has never been a better rom-com. No pair has fallen in love under humorous circumstances in a better way than Mary and Steve. And don’t you dare say The Notebook, because that was a romantic drama. There was nothing funny about how deeply in love Allie and Noah were, and always will be.
So, these are the 13 important ingredients to The Wedding Planner that make it the most flawless, ultimate rom-com we will ever have the pleasure of viewing.
The Set Up

The movie opens on an adorable little girl playing with her Barbies and dreaming of her wedding day. Come on! We then flash to the current day where Mary (Jennifer Lopez) is giving a pep talk to a bride whose wedding she has just planned down to every last brush of a calligraphy pen. Oh, and speaking of that, even the opening title font is perfectly classy and romantic.

The Lady
Mary is type-A, has a good family (who she spends time with over Scrabble games), and is great at her job, planning every last detail of dream weddings. Also, J. Lo is a person so gorgeous, we would watch her floss her teeth on screen for 90 minutes, so the fact that this film allows her to play charming and vulnerable and funny is just an added bonus. Mary’s got beautiful clothes, her hair falls into a perfect bun, and everyone likes her! She is a modern woman, she’s got her shit together, and she’s a lady that doesn’t need to be saved by a man, except that she’s totally a lady that needs to be saved by a man.
The Setting
The majority of the film takes place in wedding venues, and places where you pick out the pretty flowers, and all the other seemingly romantic settings that come along with weddings and their exhaustive planning. This romantic comedy lets you know right at the top, in no uncertain terms, there will be fantasy wedding talk in this film. Oh, and this is all happening in the San Francisco area, letting you know that Mary is a woman who has made a life for herself in a metropolitan city, a place where the love of her life could be just around the next corner.

The Meet Cute
This meet cute is perfect not just because it’s romantic, but because it choreographed so well that it seems almost possible! A cab driver’s ice cream scoop falls off of it’s cone, and while he scoops it back up from the seat of the cab (ew), he sideswipes a dumpster that starts rolling down one of those fateful San Fran hills, heading straight for Mary who is immobile, due to the fact that her very expensive nude heel is currently stuck in a manhole cover. She can’t bear to sacrifice her new Gucci shoe, even as the dumpster races towards her. Luckily, one of the most handsome men on the planet (Matthew McConaughey) sees what’s happening and pushes her out of the way, just in time, landing right on top of her in a way that would be extremely uncomfortable if he wasn’t so hot. Mary’s got the right idea by fainting, because what else is a girl to do in that situation?
The Guy
A pediatrician! Right away, we know he likes and is good with kids, which ups his hotness. Dr. Steve Eddison has that Texas drawl, as it’s hard for McConaughey to ever completely drop it, and he’s got the heart of a guy who loves helping people, especially pretty ladies fighting with their shoes despite impending danger. Plus, he’s McConaughey, another one we have no problem staring at for the duration of a film. We’re in luck that this one happens to be perfect.

The Best Friend
Oh, Judy Greer plays Penny, Mary’s best friend and co-worker. And we all know, you don’t have a real rom-com on your hands unless Judy Greer is the best friend. She goes along with Mary and Steve on their non-date on the night of the incident, and immediately makes an excuse to leave to help with her friend’s brother’s godmother’s fax machine. What a wingwoman!
The Confusion
Oh, you didn’t things were going to go smoothly for Mary and Steve, did you? Because there’s been a bit of a mix up. The major wedding Mary is currently working on is for Fran (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) and Eddie, as in Steve Eddie-son. Dun dun dun! Mary and Steve realize the conundrum they are in when she runs into the couple at dance class, where, of course, they must dance while Fran takes a phone call.

The Enemy
While we, the viewer, want Mary and Steve to be together, we can’t entirely hate Fran. The key to this film is that Fran is not a bitch. We can’t really root against her, she’s done nothing wrong. She’s pretty and sweet enough, and also, Mary wants to continue working with her on the biggest event of her career. So when Fran tells Mary she can’t go through with the wedding, we start to like her even more. Get out of the way, girl, and no one gets hurt.
The Love Triangle
No rom-com is complete without a love triangle. Enter the Italian goofball, Massimo (Justin Chambers), Mary’s childhood friend who has a crush on her. Due to pressure from their families, the two make it very close to marriage, but he’s similar to Fran: the audience can’t root against him. He’s silly yet persistent, and ultimately, we know he’s no real threat to the love developing between Mary and Steve. Plus, Massimo gets the most points for knowing that Mary belongs with Steve and handling it like a man, even helping bring them together.

The Quirks
Mary is played by Jennifer Lopez, a woman so gorgeous and talented, it’s hard for the majority of the population to relate to her, and yet, it’s what the audience must feel. We have to believe that we are Mary and Mary is us and what happens to her could happen to us. So she comes with her quirks. The Scrabble playing and the freakish organization and the fact that she is able to get a heel stuck in a manhole cover. We’ve all been there, right?
Same goes for Dr. Steve Eddison. Could we ever meet a dreamboat like this guy? Sure, he’s handsome and charming, but we’ve all met this guy before. The fact that he doesn’t reveal his engagement and has a romantic night in the park with Mary is douchey, but not as bad as his habit of wasting M&M’s. Only eating the brown ones because you’re worried about artificial coloring? Shame on you. Anyway, while this guy is great, he comes with his flaws as well.
The Humor
Gluing a penis back onto a statue! Wild horses! “You saved…my shoe.” While The Wedding Planner goes much heavier with the romantic part of rom-com, the comedy is still strong, making the falling in love part that much sweeter. With the broken statue, there’s a key dick joke, without going to raunchy. It’s art, after all. The unruly horses provide danger and yet another opportunity to save Mary (sigh). Even the father and his friends get their quips in, all allowing the film to keep the mood light, even while the leads are feeling some serious feelings.

The Wedding
It’s all been leading up to this, the main event(s). The Wedding Planner tries to throw not one, but two weddings at us at the same time. Fran and Steve’s big day looks as beautiful as ever, until the cracks start to show. Steve sees Fran before the wedding! They take “a walk”! Mary leaves the wedding in Penny’s hands so she can scoot away and get to her own wedding! We get all the build up of two weddings, both Mary and Fran looking stunning in their white dresses, without the actual payoff of any wedding at all. But, as promised, there are the flowers and the dresses and the stress of the big day, with the fantasy of true love looming.
The Suspense
A rom-com doesn’t work unless you are biting your nails, hoping that the two leads end up together, even when it seems like they might not. We can’t just watch two people fall in love with no obstacles, that would be ridiculous. This movie knew how to really make us nervous. Mary and Massimo were approaching the vows, until her friends and family could no longer hold their peace. Meanwhile, Steve takes the cab of the man who started all of this with his stupid ice cream, to rush over to the courthouse to stop the wedding. Massimo saves the day by driving Steve on his vespa over to the park where Mary is…picking at her M&M’s and only eating the brown ones. Are these two meant to be, or what?
The Wedding Planner hits all the right notes: you feel the romance, and the worry that it might not work out for these two, and the relief when it does. It’s simple and sweet, and leaves you feeling hopeful, and having faith in the universe that everyone is happy or at least soon will be. We all want to watch two attractive people fall in love, no matter what it takes, and this film achieves that goal with flying colored M&M’s.
[Where to stream The Wedding Planner]