More Icing than Cake: THE BIG WEDDING

Susan Sarandon age 66, caught in the act with her panties down, makes being on the other side of the hill, sexy! And in terms of style, energy and love of life, same goes for Diane Keaton and Robert DeNiro. I’m sure it comes as no surprise, that these three are the reason to see writer/director Justin Zackham (screen writer of The Bucket List) new movie The Big Wedding.

Screen Picks: You seem to have a fascination with people who are experiencing a vital  second or third act in life. What is it about this subject matter that attracts you?

Justine Zackham: “I feel like thaere aren’t a lot of films out there for that particular audience and my own taste gravitates towards movies that I think are more appealing to an older crowd.  A love story is more interesting between two people who have lived a lot of life already. The things that would inform a typical romantic comedy about 20- or 30- year-olds take on a different resonance when both characters are in their 50’s, 60’s, or beyond; truthfully the dialogue is more interesting. –Screenpicks.com

The plot  of The Big Wedding is straight out of a sitcom or dramedy like Brothers & Sisters: Openly adopted Alejandro (Ben Barnes, Chronicles of Narnia) is literally marrying the girl next door, Missy (Amanda Seyfried, basically reprising her role in Mama Mia). His biological mother and sister are coming to the States from Columbia to attend the wedding; only his extremely Catholic bio-mom would not approve of the fact that his parents are divorced (Keaton & DeNiro) and that his father has a long-time live in girlfriend (Sarandon) who used to be his adopted mother’s best friend. So he asks his parents to pretend to be married for the duration of the wedding and his Colombian family’s visit.

Alejandro’s adopted family also consists of a 30 year-old virgin brother, Jared (Topher Grace) and a unhappily married, estranged from their father sister, Lyla (Katherine Heigl).

Alejandro’s bio-sister (Ana Ayora) is hot, but not Sophia Vergara hot; yet Jared, after vowing to wait for love, decides way too quickly to loosen his chastity belt, moments after meeting his “sister” of sorts.

Lyla and her husband’s marriage is on the rocks after trying unsuccessfully to conceive a child, adequate back story. It’s her anger with her father over the divorce and infidelity that seems misplaced. We never get the exact time frame, but it seems as if the parents split happened at least 15 years ago. Lyla doesn’t seem to have a problem with her father’s girlfriend nor does she seem terribly close to her mother, so why hold a grudge against her father?  It would have been much better if their difficulties stemmed from jealousies or resentment over her father (DeNiro’s) profession as a sculpture. He off-handily mentions that Lyla once showed promising talent for the art form; this could have been interesting if her career had eclipsed his or he had expected too much of her, causing their rift.

Script doctoring aside, Sarandon, Keaton and DeNiro’s sense of fun and shorthand with each other as seasoned professionals is evident throughout the movie. And it’s that joy for the industry, to which they’ve devoted their lives, that makes The Big Wedding for richer than poorer, for better than worse.

LAMB Score: 2 out of 5

Philly Film Blog