The Story:
Ryan Banks (Jason Priestley) is a nobody who becomes a somebody, quite by chance. He grabs his best friend, Todd (Bradley Cooper) and drags him along for the ride. But now Ryan's star is fading, and Todd has the brilliant plan to revitalize his career by having Ryan star in a reality show, "I Want to Marry Ryan Banks". The best choice of the contestants is Charlie (Emma Caulfield), but when Todd realizes he has feelings for her, he's unsure of how to proceed with his best friend's feelings on the line.
Well, you know when you have a movie where Jason Priestly is on the bill ahead of Bradley Cooper, it's old (2004) and it was probably made for TV (ABC Family: I Want to Marry Ryan Banks).
Correct on both counts!
Yes, before Bradley Cooper was BRADLEY COOPER, he was working his way up the Hollywood ladder.
That includes a stop at ABC Family for a romantic comedy that is never laugh out loud funny, but remains amusing throughout.
Naturally, you can see what's coming miles before the rest of the cast actually get there, but that's okay. It's one of the conceits of the genre, and I'm fine with it.
Usually when they tinker with the classic romantic comedy formula, that's when something goes horribly wrong and the movie becomes unwatchable!
Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love. Boy loses girl. Boy gets girl. Happy Ending.
This one follows that formula mostly with a slight wrinkle or two from the reality show to keep the viewers on edge.
Will Charlie choose love, or money?
When all of America is rooting for those two to be together, does poor Todd stand a chance?
I will admit though, Ryan is supposed to be a bit slimy with the ladies, but Priestley does a great job of balancing the fact that he's supposed to be both adored by the ladies and a bit of a playboy at the same time, and never goes too far either direction to make him too sappy or too mean.
In fact, I was genuinely surprised at how the movie wrapped up the storyline, and they lifted what would have been a C/C+ range movie of the week to...
Final Grade: B-.. maybe even solid B
Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Cute and harmless, I could watch it again with no problems.
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