One of the first movies of 2003 also looked to be one of the dumbest, featuring Ashton Kutcher and Brittany Murphy as a young married couple that go through the honeymoon from hell. Surprisingly, Just Married isn't all that bad at all, but it definitely isn't anything special, either.

Just Married contains a blend of a few laugh-out-loud scenes and some extremely stupid moments. The movie never aims very high, but avoids aiming too low, however, and somehow manages to find a nice little niche that should appeal to a small audience.

Kutcher, who is funny in "That 70's Show" but does not strike much confidence into me as a movie actor, is pretty decent here; he is much more manageable than Kelso in the Fox sitcom, meaning that he sounds like a normal person. Murphy is about as expected: pretty decent.

The movie itself fluctuates heavily. As already mentioned, it is at times very funny, and other times incredibly stupid. If it had avoided some of the more slapstick moments, Just Married could have been a genuine comedy; instead, it has to settle for something a little less. The movie works the best when the actors are actually interacting, and not just falling through walls and stuff like that.

Just Married is a surprisingly entertaining movie that perhaps survives due to its short running time, but nonetheless offers up some good comedy. The movie is definitely for younger audiences, but it does what it set out to accomplish.

Review by Erik Samdahl. Erik is a marketing and technology executive by day, avid movie lover by night. He is a member of the Seattle Film Critics Society.