The Big Wedding
Starring: Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Ben Barnes, Amanda Seyfried, Katherine Heigl
Director: Justin Zackham
Rating: 2/5
The Big Wedding brings together one of the best and most talented cast lists of the year - so it should be a great movie, right? Wrong!
I am totally stunned at how such a terrific line-up has gone to waste in a movie that is completely below them all. This could have been one of the best comedy movies of the years, instead a great opportunity has gone begging.
Follows a charmingly modern family trying to survive a weekend wedding celebration that has the potential to become a full blown family fiasco.
To the amusement of their adult children and friends, long divorced couple Don and Ellie Griffin (De Niro and Keaton) are once again forced to play the happy couple for the sake of their adopted son's wedding after his ultra conservative biological mother unexpectedly decides to fly halfway across the world to attend.
With all of the wedding guests looking on, the Griffins are hilariously forced to confront their past, present and future - and hopefully avoid killing each other in the process.
The main problem with this movie is the script as it lacks originality, character development and laughs - something I find to be a necessity in a comedy.
Yes there are a few little chuckle moments but that is really it; which is disappointing when you know the likes of De Niro, Keaton and Robin Williams have all done terrific comedy work in the past.
Moreover the talents of Williams are desperately underused, as are those of Amanda Seyfried.
You see pretty early on where the story is going and none of the actors are really given anything to get their teeth into.
The relationship between Katherine Heigl and Robert De Niro - who play father and daughter - is the most interesting as it is the relationship with the most friction.
And while we do see that relationship develop and change throughout the film I would have liked to have seen more of it.
Look this is a frothy, harmless film that will pass ninety minutes, but it is like any other wedding movie that you have seen before.
When you look at the cast list and the talent involved you just think about the movie that could have been made.
If you want a wedding movie with a bit more umph then check out the French version Mon frère se marie that this film is based on.
The Big Wedding is out now.
Tagged in Robert De Niro Diane Keaton