Wedding Daze (2007) July 8, 2008
Posted by gproject in : Recently Viewed , trackbackDirected by: Michael Ian Black
Here’s a film that’s only as sure of itself as it is of its title. You might know it as ‘The Next Girl I See’, or possibly ‘The Pleasure of Your Company’ if you live stateside, but here in the UK it was released under the punchier moniker of ‘Wedding Daze’. Still, no title, regardless of its puns, can alter the content of writer Michael Ian Black’s feature directorial debut, which might ultimately leave you as confused about love as all of its central characters clearly are.
The film opens with lovable shlub Anderson (Jason Biggs), as his convoluted marriage proposal goes horribly awry when his fiancé dies unexpectedly during the act. Convinced that he has missed his only shot at love, it takes a challenge from his best friend to make him jokingly propose to a random waitress named Katie (Isla Fisher). The twist comes when Katie considers her current life and decides to jump in and say Yes! With a marriage proposal in place, the couple attempt to see if love can blossom between them, but not without their crazy parents and friends getting in the way first.
To sum up the simple-sounding story in one word: ‘overwritten’, comes to mind, especially when trying to tie up its loose ends during the final ten minutes. The film is so desperate to make sure nobody is left in the dark that every character gets handed some form of supposedly ‘happy’ ending which mostly involves pairing everyone up, incidental characters included. You know it’s gone too far when the story even takes a minute out to give a resolution to its dead characters! As parody, this might be pretty funny, but unfortunately that’s not what they’re going for.
Michael Ian Black adds a fun comic style and this filters into the script by way of medium-paced banter and some audacious set-pieces. Jason Biggs’s proposal scene at the start of the film should give you a fair idea of what the tone is like. The problem is that this style quickly becomes predictable and you’ll frequently be guessing the gags during their set-up. There are a few off-beat bizarre moments to keep things from getting boring but, for the most part, expect a standard, no-frills romantic comedy.
Adding to this straightforward nature is the presence of Jason Biggs as the courteous ‘nice guy’ and Isla Fisher as the slightly quirky ‘nice girl’. Biggs is a likeable enough screen presence who needs a serious career kick at the moment, while Fisher would do well to try and break away from these single-note love interest roles that have occupied her time since Wedding Crashers. Still, they make a cute couple and, when the script allows, seem to evoke some warmth from their characters. Surrounding the leads are a bunch of smaller parts that range in wackiness - the top end being Joe Pantoliano as Katie’s prison fugitive father, and Rob Corddry as a too-lenient-to-be-straight police officer. Subtlety is nothing short of bereft here.
At its best, Wedding Daze is light-hearted, watch-once fare that only has eyes for those without expectations. For a romantic comedy however, its final denouncement is weakly timed and doesn’t work at all as the compounded declaration of love that it is supposed to. Quite why everyone gets on the couple’s side at this point is beyond me, except that it opens the door for a madcap final scene that feels way too forced. Call it what you like, the pleasure of its company is short-lived.
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