Just Married

Directed by Shawn Levy, Just Married follows newlyweds Tom (Ashton Kutcher) and Sarah (Brittany Murphy) as their relationship is tested in the face of several calamities on their European honeymoon. Filmmaker Levy, working from Sam Harper’s screenplay, delivers a relentlessly hit-and-miss comedy that grows less and less tolerable as progresses, and it’s clear, certainly, that the far-from-enthralling atmosphere is compounded by a continuing emphasis on questionable, misbegotten elements – with the prevalence of underwhelming, unfunny bits of humor going a long way towards perpetuating the mostly tedious vibe. (It’s difficult, for example, to see the entertainment value in a mean-spirited recurring bit involving the death of Sarah’s beloved dog.) The episodic midsection, which details the protagonists’ various mishaps and accidents, is generally as ineffective and uninvolving as one might’ve anticipated, although, to be fair, it’s clear that the charming, personable work by both Kutcher and Murphy goes a long way towards cultivating a (relatively) tolerable feel. But the second half’s pronounced focus on the central characters’ grating arguments and bickering ensures that Just Married finally does conclude on a decidedly less-than-memorable note, with the end result a mostly misguided piece of work that squanders the affable efforts of its two stars.

** out of ****