Review of The Big Wedding (2013) by James W — 22 Jul 2014

I've been to the dentist an awful lot in my teen years. Teeth have been pulled out, as well as injections, a lot of teeth tugging, braces have been put on and taken off, and it's rather rough and at times painful, but the pain doesn't reach the levels I felt watching The Big Wedding. How can a comedy be so painfully unfunny and out of balance with a cast of this talent? Robert DeNiro has hit an all time low, Susan Sarandon and Diane Keaton seem out of place and Katherine Heigl looks uncomfortable as if to say what am I doing here?

Dead on arrival storytelling. A divorced couple pretend to be married in order to seek approval for their daughter's fiancee's mother, or something along those lines. I've literally forgotten the premise. We all love a dysfunctional family in film and TV, but when the directing, writing and gags are dysfunctional not so much. The director does a horrible job of placing wishy washy soundtracks over situations desperately trying to garner a smile from the viewer. When DeNiro starts snogging Sarandon on the kitchen table and Keaton walks in unannounced, I cringed more than anything, there's nothing funny about anything here. I'm easily amused but the eye squinting and eyebrow raising mannerisms I dished out here came in the dozens as each scene unravelled. The true train crash moment that made me realise how shoddy this comedy is involved Robin Williams telling Amanda Seyfried and Ben Barnes the sins and beliefs of the church. Robin chuckles away to himself, trying to play a cynical and cheeky priest but the results are diabolical, this five minute scene is as dry as you can get.

Look at the poster, the cast at the back laughing or smiling slightly, down at the front you see poor Amanda Seyfried and Ben Barnes looking as lost and bored as anything, and that's exactly how I felt. 20% goes to the polished sheen the camerawork and sets have, as well as an inexplicably committed performance from Diane Keaton and Topher Grace, but seriously avoid at all costs.