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| Lionsgate |
It only took about ten
minutes into The Big Wedding to realize
that a more appropriate title for the film would be ‘The dumb parents at the
wedding’ or maybe even ‘Blame it on Di Nero’. The film revolves around the mischief
caused by the parents of both the bride and groom with Di Nero’s character
always being in the middle of it. At least they start to admit to how ignorant
they are in the second half of the film but that still doesn’t make up for the
mess that The Big Wedding is.
Needless to say The Big Wedding centers around a wedding
(actually, this is probably important to note as it is difficult to determine
what the setting is while watching the film). The two most sensible people in
the film, Alejandro (Ben Barnes) and Missy (Amanda Seyfried), are tying the
knot, that is they can keep their family under control. Alejandro has not one,
not two but three mothers (sort of). There is his adopted mother Ellie (Diane
Keaton), who was once married to his father Don (Robert De Niro). Don is now
not married to but living with Ellie’s best friend Bebe (Susan Sarandon),
making her an unofficial step mother to Alejandro. Then there is his biological
mother Madonna (the one and only Madonna. Just kidding. I couldn’t resist. This
little joke is actually funnier than any jokes the film has to offer which
doesn’t say much for the film. Madonna is played by Patricia Rae). Since
Madonna is a devote catholic, Alejandro feels that his parents should pretend
like they are still married so that she will not get upset about them being
divorced.
The above plot
description is how the film attempts to be funny. The Big Wedding relies on bizarre situations such as the groom
having three moms or his divorced parents pretending to be married to carry the
films comedy side. The problem is that this isn’t that funny. Maybe the
audience is supposed to laugh at the stupidity of the situations and some will
but then again, we are talking high level stupid. In one scene, instead of
eating inside a restaurant, the brides father decides to have everyone eat outside
on a night that rain is expected. Well they start to eat outside and then of
course the rain comes which causes everyone to run inside. That’s the joke.
Nothing more happens with this. Was I supposed to laugh?
These situations often
revolve around sex as everyone is sleeping with each other (according to the
film this is funny by itself). Even Alejandro’s brother Jared (Topher Grace) is
written into this sex humor as he is a virgin but sees an opportunity to lose
this label when he meets Alejandro’s biological sister Nuria (Ana Ayora) which
allows for the line “My brother is having sex with my sister”.
Believe it or not, for
about the first hour of the film, the ignorance of the family is mild. Do not
get me wrong, there is nothing of value and it is easy ask yourself if you are
getting dumber by watching it but it’s still bearable. This all goes out the
window though with about 30 or so minutes remaining. The end is in sight and
survival through this treacherous journey looks like a real possibility and
then it hits, a scene full of revealing accusations that are pieced together in
such a way that will have you cringing like never before. I keep using
degrading words such as dumb, stupid and ignorant but I can’t think of more appropriate
words than these for this scene. Let’s just say, I was the only one in the
theater but I was embarrassed to be there.
But of course a film
like this has to have a heartwarming message about family, being with someone that
makes you happy and doing whatever it takes to work things out with them. It
just becomes impossible to care or even recognize it after witnessing several ridicules
scenes. It also doesn’t help that all of it has been seen before and at times
it seems forced and irrational. I will say however that Alejandro making sure
that his step mom is still able to make it to the wedding even after she can’t
be seen with Don is sweet and causes for a pinch of heartfelt dialogue (also
saving this film from receiving an F).
What it boils down to
is that the film industry is not about quality it is about money. How do you
make money? You take all the biggest names and put them in one film. The Big Wedding is just the latest
example of this but what is interesting is the names they got. Usually the
stars of these films are could be considered more of a celebrity rather than an
actor but this is not the case in The Big
Wedding. In this film you have actors that brought Annie Hall, Travis Bickle
and Louise Sawyer to life on the big screen. They agreed to do a film like
this? Maybe some of the blame should be given to the actors and the films they
agree to be a part of.
Grade:
D
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