Marry Me upgraded the “meet cute” to a “marry cute”.

Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson star in a new rom-com, in theaters now and also streaming on Peacock, that stretches credulity nearly to the breaking point, but the chemistry between the two stars keeps it just grounded enough to enjoy.

Lopez plays Kat Valdez, a chart-topping pop star (a real stretch for her, acting-wise) who is about to marry Bastian (Maluma), another pop star who is her match in fame, with the same amount of social media followers, number one hits, endorsement deals and Instagram-friendly good looks. The two are currently promoting their hit single “Marry Me” and their perfect relationship at the same time.

That was the plan, anyway. Just before their wedding, which was to take place at a concert televised world-wide, Bastian is caught on video canoodling with Kat’s assistant. What’s a deceived diva to do? Obviously, the logical choice is to pluck a stranger from the audience (the one holding the sign that says “Marry Me”) and marry him instead.

That lucky stranger is Charlie Gilbert (Wilson), a soft-spoken, social media-avoidant math teacher from Flatbush, and he agrees, egged on by his friend Parker (Sarah Silverman) and his tween daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman.) Before the crowd, who are live-streaming the impossible site, the two exchange vows, and Kat’s people whisk the new couple off to her car.

Thus the madness begins: press conferences, photo ops and staged togetherness for social media, and being stalked by the paparazzi and made fun of by Jimmy Fallon. (This movie was made by Universal, which owns NBC, so you will see a lot of Fallon and Hoda Kotb here.) In between the chaos, Kat and Charlie decide to stay married as they really get to know each other.

It’s all ludicrous, of course: Kat reschedules a private concert in Japan, turning down a huge check, to visit Charlie as he coaches his mathlete team. After the initial burst of interest, Kat’s handlers and the paparazzi recede far enough into the background to allow the new couple private moments, even as they venture out into the world. And beneath the veneer of stardom (and makeup and hair extensions), Kat is every bit as down-to-earth as Charlie, adapting to his low-stress lifestyle without skipping a beat.

So what obstacle has to be thrown into the path of the lovebirds? While Kat is making a honest show of trying to live like a normal human being, that all gets upended when Bastian jets back into Kat’s life after “Marry Me” earns Kat her first industry award nomination, and Charlie decides that he really doesn’t fit into her life. Will Kat return to fame, fortune, and a life with Bastian with the wandering eye?

The “will they or won’t they?” isn’t a tough problem to figure out, and the likelihood that this would happen in real life is not the point of the movie. It’s a fairy tale romance (adapted by screenwriters John Rogers and Tami Sagher from a graphic novel of the same name by Bobby Crosby) that depends on the charm of its stars to win over the audience.

Great co-stars like John Bradley as Collin, Kat’s manager, and Silverman and Stephen Wallem as Charlie’s co-workers, help balance the movie, making up for the Jimmy Fallon intrusions. Maluma makes a compelling case for forgiving infidelity (well, almost), but Jameela Jamil is mostly wasted in what is basically a cameo role. The soundtrack, which was released last year in anticipation of a release date that came and went thanks to Covid, is packed with some great original songs.

If you’re in the Valentine’s mood and are adept at the willing suspension of disbelief, you could do worse than to say yes to Marry Me.