The Big Wedding

• Released Internationally on 26/04/13
• Released in Malta by KRS on 12/06/13

Preview (as published 01/06/13 in VIDA Magazine)

Another month, another wedding film. This one is a remake of a French film, and covers the familiar ground of a dysfunctional family having to get together for a wedding, with all the awkwardness, drunkenness and varying amounts of love that ensue. The cast is quite impressive, although reviews elsewhere have so far been lukewarm at best. Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon head the veterans section, and Robin Williams makes one of his appearances as a member of the clergy. Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up), Amanda Seyfried (Les Misérables) and Topher Grace (Spider-man 3) lead the younger section of the wedding entourage.

 

Review (12/06/13)

3-word review: Light and fluffy.

If the cast of this film were a selection of unknowns, I doubt anyone would bother sitting through it. But blessed as this film is with a trifecta of acting titans, as well as an impressive supporting cast, it plays out as an amusing and mostly harmless feast of family awkwardness, which is a tried and tested formula for this sort of wedding film.

Amongst the many issues thrown into the mix for this wedding are the aftermaths of separation, the emotional exhaustion of IVF and the complications resulting from adoption. At the core of the plot, however, is an issue which is rather relevant to Malta, with a light-hearted look at the potential hypocrisy of religious weddings, as everybody puts on a devout face and looks virginal, united and happy for the benefit of the wedding guests and the clergyman at the altar.

Some of the many subplots are more ridiculous than others, and Topher Grace in particular is quite embarrassing to watch at points. But Diane Keaton adds her own unique glow to the festivities, and De Niro ties it all together as the blundering, imperfect, lovable patriarch of the family.

In the end, it’s a comic look at the many different types of love that families are made up of nowadays, and just like most weddings it should be able to provide some connection or entertainment for most audiences, without necessarily being original or memorable.

 

Trailers:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/lions_gate/thebigwedding/