Entertainment

The 'Isn't It Romantic' Soundtrack Is What Rom-Com Dreams Are Made Of

by Sarah Halle Corey
Amy Sussman/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Rom-coms and good music go hand in hand like the starry-eyed couples in the movies themselves. What would 13 Going On 30 be without its "Thriller" dance sequence? Or, what about The Wedding Singer be without hit list of 1980s tunes? Can you imagine Love, Simon without its Bleachers songs? Rom-coms need good soundtracks, and so of course a movie that both parodies and champions the genre with every trope from characters to costumes needs to also have the soundtrack to match. Well, the Isn't It Romantic soundtrack totally nails what good rom-com music is all about.

Isn't it Romantic, which came out in theaters Valentine's Day, stars Rebel Wilson as a New York architect named Natalie who's been soured on love. After being fed rom-com fairy tales her whole life, but never feeling like she fit the romantic lead type, Natalie is pretty cynical. But, when she hits her head and her whole world has become a romantic comedy, filled with the PG-13 clichés she learns to love. Among those clichés is rom-com characters' tendency to break into song whenever they're feeling it. So that's exactly what Natalie and her friends Josh (played by Adam DeVine) and his girlfriend Isabella (played by Priyanka Chopra) do in a scene in Isn't It Romanic when they sing and dance to Whitney Houston's "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Check out the scene from the movie below:

The scene is a ton of fun in the movie, and the good news is that you can listen to the song and sing along to your heart's content since it's the first track on the soundtrack. The track features Wilson, DeVine and Chopra all jamming out. Wilson talked to Entertainment Weekly about shooting the musical number. She said, "It’s hard because we’re parodying the rom-com trope of doing a musical number, but we also wanted it to be a good musical number." Wilson also told EW that when they made this scene, they wanted to make sure that it reminded fans of all their favorite rom-com song-and-dance numbers from classic movies. She said:

In a lot of rom-coms, there are musical numbers where people spontaneously break into rehearsed choreography, like the ‘Say A Little Prayer For You’ from My Best Friend’s Wedding and the Michael Jackson in 13 Going on 30.

The Isn't It Romantic soundtrack features another big musical number from the movie: The big finale musical number that features the entire cast of the movie singing Madonna's "Express Yourself." You can see the scene below:

The musical numbers in Isn't It Romantic aren't the first time Wilson and DeVine have sung together. They previously starred in the Pitch Perfect movies as Fat Amy and Bumper, two competing college a cappella performers who let their passions out through both song and their love-hate relationship. For fans of Pitch Perfect who are looking for more covers of pop hits from Wilson and DeVine, the Isn't It Romantic soundtrack will hit the spot.

The rest of the Isn't It Romantic soundtrack features all the instrumental music from the movie, so you can relive the movie's best moments while you listen. Here's the full track list:

  • "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)" - Rebel Wilson, Adam DeVine, Priyanka Chopra
  • "Express Yourself" - Rebel Wilson, Liam Hemsworth, Adam DeVine, Priyanka Chopra, Betty Gilpin, Brandon Scott Jones
  • "My Way" - Alana D
  • "Wake Up/Off to Work" - John Debney
  • "Park Walk and Talk" - John Debney
  • "Office Talk" - John Debney
  • "Subway Meeting/Mugged" - John Debney
  • "Chance Meeting" - John Debney
  • "Strange New Apartment" - John Debney
  • "My Life's a Rom Com!" - John Debney
  • "Beach Walk" - John Debney
  • "The Weird Subway" - John Debney
  • "He Thinks I'm Beautiful" - John Debney
  • "The Tango" - John Debney
  • "Dream Date" - John Debney
  • "Love Theme" - John Debney
  • "Flying to the Wedding" - John Debney
  • "Never Asked Me Out" - John Debney
  • "The Park Stroll" - John Debney
  • "It Was Me All Along" - John Debney
  • "Back to Reality" - John Debney
  • "My True Self" - John Debney
  • "I Was Looking at You" - John Debney
  • "You Saw the Real Me" - John Debney

If you can't wait to live out your own rom-com musical number in the comfort of your own home, you can get the Isn't It Romantic soundtrack now on Spotify, Amazon, or iTunes.