"The Big Wedding" is a pleasant movie with great actors. It is always nice to see great actors like Robert De Niro, Susan Sarandon, and Diane Keaton together. It is arguably De Niro's most fun performance in quite some time, although that is definitely not saying much. It contains many moments that made the largely senior-priced crowd laugh hard. It is hard to dislike it. It is a pity though that the scripting, characterization, and plot progression do not think higher of their audience. The film chugs along like an R-rated CBS sitcom making it difficult to actually believe some of the events the characters are experiencing. Still, it is not without charm.
Divorced couple Don (Robert de Niro) and Ellie (Diane Keaton). Their adopted son Alejandro (Ben Barnes) is getting married and his biological mother, Madonna (Patricia Rae), is visiting unexpectedly. Unfortunately, Madonna believes that divorce is a travesty and this will sully the reception. Don must push his live-in girlfriend, Bebe (Susan Sarandon) out of the picture in order to keep up appearances that he and Ellie are still together. All of this is going on as Don and Ellie's 29-year old son Jared (Topher Grace) tries to lose his virginity (no, you didn't read that wrong) and their daughter Lyla (Katherine Heigl) deals with a rocky break-up with her husband. Will everything turn out well in the end? How many episodes of a TV comedy have you seen before?
Justin Zackham wrote and directed this film based on the 2006 film "Mon frere se marie" and it would seem like something got lost in translation. Plot points, character motivations, and the overall progression no doubt flowed better in French than it does here. The movie reads like a list of events that someone wanted to put in a raunchy adult comedy and then figured out how to do this with the loosest of plots. Things that matter intensely to a character seem to only matter for that particular scene until it moves to the next character. The audience is left confused not knowing if we are supposed to truly care about these characters or just revel in the general chaos. Although the film mercifully doesn't included anyone falling into a wedding cake, it pulls out every other stereotypical plot event. Some of the jokes and plot developments do work but the whole thing adds up to a mediocre, forgettable film that will be aimed squarely at the $5 bin in a handful of years.
This film would be totally lost without the charm of De Niro and Sarandon. The two are more fun than we have seen in quite some time. The script actually gives De Niro's character a few chances to really shine with his children, Bebe, and Ellie. He may be a colossal mess of a person (again a plot point that probably plays more loosely in the French original) but he is still presented as a mostly likable flawed character. He hasn't made me smile this much in far too many roles.
"The Big Wedding" is a flawed piece of fluff that will appear and disappear as quickly as it is consumed. It will no doubt provide a decent amount of entertainment for those who are fine with slightly ribald humor delivered by screen greats. It is not the great film that these actors deserve but it is better than it reads on paper. Attend this wedding if it is raining out and you have nothing better to do. The cake will be decent and you are always looking for an excuse to wear that dress or suit. Don't cancel your plans over it though.
No comments:
Post a Comment