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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Immaturity Shines Through Black's Directorial Debut, February 16, 2008
With Wedding Daze (formally The Pleasure of Your Company), the directorial debut from Michael Ian Black, I expected a romantic comedy in the vein of Wedding Crashers... though that is probably only because both star Isla Fisher... what I got, though, was a gag-full American Pie-esque romp centering on two individuals with just the right amount of crazy that makes it hard to root for them either separately, let alone together.
When the opening credits rolled, I clapped with glee over the potential: Joanna Gleason (Kim from Friends) played Katie (Fisher)'s mother, a skeletal Joe Pantoliano as her father, Heather Goldenhersh (Lizzy Caplan's sister on The Class) as her best friend, and Matt Malloy as her adoptive father... not to mention the aforementioned Edward Herrmann as Anderson (Jason Biggs)'s father. Herrmann is a man I've loved since he played Macaulay Culkin's father in Richie Rich, and I will pretty much give anything he's in a try, allowing it the benefit of the doubt because he's such a classy, intelligent actor that he must choose his projects with care. His first scene in Wedding Daze made me shake my head and exclaim: "Oh, Richard Gilmore, no. Just no!" as his on-screen wife licked whipped cream from his face. Unfortunately the ones that followed (presenting his son with his c*ck ring; watching two naked women less than half his age make out on a rug in front of a fire in his living room) just proved that not even the cast could save this crude romantic comedy.
Wedding Daze starts off simply enough: a young romantic's whole world crashes down around him when the girlfriend to whom he is in the middle of proposing collapses on the floor in front of him. He spirals, needless to say, and decides on an impetuous whim to propose to the woman currently waiting on him in some roadhouse diner. Luckily, she is just as spontaneous (read: nuts) as he is, and though she had been pondering a proposal from her Charades-loving boyfriend, she needs nothing but a split second to scream in joy and accept the hand (though no ring) of Anderson. Fisher is one of a handful of this generation's true comedic gems, whose talent would be best suited in a female-centric piece in which she can really shine. Needless to say, Wedding Daze is not one such piece, and in it, she is forced to take a backseat to prop humor (a diaphragm ending up in a sandwich... is that the best you could do? Really?) and the much more one-note Biggs. He relies on his bright white smile to endear his audiences, but years after first winning them over as a big-eyed, geek-chic teenager, the act (like himself) has just grown old; he has not matured.
Katie and Anderson go through the usual dance of trying to fit into one another's worlds and overcoming the obstacles of different families and friends but still come out on the other side wanting to get married. I think they have known each other for about four days at that point. The movie picks up quickly from there, as the duo steal a car to elope, all the while Katie's mother and biological father hold up a hardware store to get their daughter the money for a proper wedding. Arresting chaos ensues, including a cameo standoff with Rob Corddry, and Katie delivers her "Despite all of our insane obstacles and the red flags advising us otherwise, I want to be with you" speech while both families are behind bars. Her words-from-the-heart (or perhaps the gun she shoots at the ceiling) is somehow enough to convince everyone (perhaps because it's the eight-minute mark, and for a comedy this thin, that's nearing the end) because thirty seconds later, they are marching down the aisle at the little Atlantic City wedding chapel at which her own parents eloped twenty-odd years ago. The Reverend tells the happy couple that he can personally guarantee anyone who marries at his establishment will be happy forever, but it's way too late for the love affair with this movie.
(Though I will admit the "Jewnicorn" and "Jewlahoop" did elicit a chuckle.)
Wedding Daze should have ended there, but Black (who was a hybrid on this project) just couldn't end on a genuinely sweet (albeit completely unrealistic) moment. Instead, he gave us another six or seven minutes of drawn-out residual drama in the form of a mock-police standoff, at which point I had had more than enough and just ended the $3.95 rental prematurely. Michael, I still love you for your witty Stella performances and snappy VH1 Countdown Lists commentary, but please, please, please stick to in front of the camera work until your sense of humor hits puberty.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Romantic romp is right, January 17, 2008
Not quite what I would have expected (based on trailers in advertisements), but not bad. Given the leads, and backgrounds of same, I expected something more along the lines of say American Pie or Wedding Crashers, but this was rather tame. Note that says tame, not lame. Released straight to video, rather than going to theatres, one might think the movie here isn't worth the time, but that isn't true. Perhaps somewhat in line with the American Pie 'wedding movie', this one is certainly formulaic but delivers a cute movie if you care to sit and watch it.
Anderson (Jason Biggs) has his anticipated fiance unexpectedly become, well, unavailable. Heartbroken, not ready to move on, despite his best friend telling him that his relationship wasn't ready to move on to the next level begin with, he's somewhat dared into striking up a new relationship. One that by chances happens to involve Kate (Wedding Crasher's crazy red head Isla Fisher). So starts a rushed romantic relationship as the two characters propose to each other, accept the proposals and then question whether or not their relationship is a a good or bad thing. Can they actually make it through to getting married, or will the baggage each carries ruin things before they can even get started?
The comedy isn't quite as low-brow (for the most part) as any of the American Pie movies, or say Saving Silverman (another Biggs starring role) would be, but there are some funny scenes stolen by Anderson's parents and Katie's as well.
Coarse language at times, sexual content/suggestive behavior, probably deserved of the R rating that is carried for this one. Distributed as a flipper disc with widescreen on one side, full screen (why does anyone still buy anything in that format?!!?) on the other. A few deleted/extended scenes included as extras.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Surprisingly humorous, November 24, 2008
Wedding Daze came and went at the theatres here. After seeing a trailer online that suggested a funny if completely absurd film, I never saw another thing about this film. It didn't receive very positive reviews, didn't stay long in the theatres and didn't really catch my attention until I noticed it was on Netflix's "View Now" roster. So, I decided to give it a late chance and came away with a smile.
Let's get one thing clear: the movie is ridiculous. Boy Meets Girl. Boy accidently kills girl. Boy is sad. Boy meets second girl and instantly proposes on a lark. Girl says yes. Hijinks ensue. What this means for Wedding Daze is that Anderson (Jason Biggs) proposes to his girlfiend who is so shocked, she has a heart attack. He becomes inconsolable until his best friend forces him to ask out the next girl he sees. At this moment, Anderson meets Katie (Isla Fisher) and, instead of asking her out, asks her to marry him. She says yes, shocking both of them, and then the aforementioned hijinks (and awkwardness) abound.
It's a pretty silly movie, written and directed by the equally silly Michael Ian Black, that works only because of the inspired casting. The two leads, Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher, have always been perfect comedic choices and they are zany and funny here. Even when the story gets a little long in the tooth and extends a bit further than it probably should, they keep it mostly afloat. It feels like the grownup cousin of Saving Silverman, another absurd-but-decent comedy. And it can get away with a bit more with its R rating. However, as far as raunchy R-rated movies, it's pretty tame.
Enjoyable, but completely unbelievable.
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