Film

The Marrying Man

Name: The Marrying Man
Genre: Comedy, Romance, Music
Released: 1991
Cast: Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Robert Loggia, Elisabeth Shue, Armand Assante

Romantic comedy
Comedy
Light-hearted

A 1991 romantic comedy where a wealthy heir meant to marry one woman gets trapped into marrying another after a Vegas fling goes sideways with a gangster. It's a breezy, star-studded romp through Old Hollywood and Rat Pack era Las Vegas, more interested in charm and musical numbers than plot logic. For anyone who enjoys light, glamorous period comedies with strong ensemble casts.

TMDb rating

2.8

If you liked this

His Girl Friday1940

Screwball perfection about a newspaper editor and his ex-wife caught in romantic and professional chaos. Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell crackle with the same rapid-fire chemistry and moral ambiguity that *The Marrying Man* attempts.

But It's 80 years old and moves at breakneck speed — if you're not tuned into 1940s comedy rhythms, it can feel bewildering.

Ocean's Eleven1960

The original Rat Pack caper: cool guys, Vegas glamour, a heist, and a cast having visible fun together. Same era, same vibe of roguish charm and ensemble play that makes *The Marrying Man* tick.

But The plot is thin and the heist itself is almost incidental — this is style over substance, which won't satisfy anyone wanting a taut thriller.

Singin' in the Rain1952

Peak Hollywood musical romance: Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor, Debbie Reynolds in a love triangle set in the golden age of film. Same comedic lightness and integrated song numbers that anchor *The Marrying Man*.

But If elaborate dance sequences and earnest musical sentiment feel dated to you, this will feel like pure artifice rather than fun.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Marrying Man

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Guys and Dolls1955

Both feature lovable rogues caught between criminal entanglement and romantic obligation in a glamorous, morally hazy world where gangsters and showbiz overlap.

Frank Sinatra and Marlon Brando in Damon Runyon's gambling underworld with a full Loesser score. Same Vegas-adjacent milieu, same theme of rogues forced into romance, and the same commitment to treating song and plot as equal.

But Brando was visibly uncomfortable and sounds like he's sleepwalking through the musical numbers.

Breakfast at Tiffany's1961

Audrey Hepburn as a charmingly mercenary free spirit; Henry Mancini's iconic score; New York glamour. The same tone of romantic comedy played by beautiful people in beautiful places, but executed with more wit.

But It's a quieter film that relies on understatement — if you want the bombast and musical numbers, this will feel restrained.

It Takes Two1995

A comedy of mistaken identity and forced proximity featuring a wealthy heir and working-class woman, with the same screwball energy and ensemble charm as *The Marrying Man*.

But It's a 90s family film with a saccharine ending — the tone is considerably lighter and less sophisticated than you might want.

Pennies from Heaven1981

Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters in a Depression-era romance with elaborate musical fantasy sequences. It has the same nostalgic Hollywood shimmer and attempt to blend comedy with music and yearning.

But It's considerably darker and more melancholic than *The Marrying Man* — the fantasy sequences can feel oppressively sad rather than escapist.

Funny Girl1968

Barbra Streisand as Fanny Brice navigating love and ambition in 1920s showbiz. Period glamour, big musical numbers, and a protagonist who charms her way through romantic chaos with star power.

But At nearly three hours, it's a commitment, and the second half turns quite dramatic and sorrowful — not pure entertainment.

The Poseidon Adventure1972

An ensemble cast including Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, and Shelley Winters trapped in crisis. It has that same pleasure in star-studded casts playing romantic entanglements amid spectacle.

But It's a disaster film, so the tone is survival and peril rather than romantic comedy — the structure is completely different.

The Producers1968

Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder in a screwball comedy about show business corruption. Broadway razzle-dazzle, broad comedy, and the same tone of roguish characters muddling through romantic and professional chaos.

But The humour is heavily dependent on theatrical overacting and satirical targets that may not land as effectively today.

Crimes and Misdemeanors1989

Both tackle the collision between romantic farce and serious crime with contrasting tones; *The Marrying Man* treats it as comedy, Allen uses it to expose moral compromise beneath the glitter.

Woody Allen weaves a Max Brothers comedy alongside a genuine moral tragedy about a man hiring a hit man. It proves you can blend light romantic comedy with darker criminal elements and actually mean it.

But It's heavy and philosophical — the comedy is sparse and the ending is genuinely bleak, not escapist at all.

Foolish Heart1999

Both use forced marriage as their engine and explore whether proximity breeds authentic love; this one actually believes the question matters.

A wildly entertaining South Korean drama about a con artist forced into a fake marriage with consequences that spiral. It has the same premise of trapped marriage creating actual feeling, but executes it with real stakes and emotional sophistication.

But It's a 16-episode commitment in Korean with subtitles — the tonal register is melodrama, not Hollywood comedy.