I got a few genuine laughs out of this movie but not near as many as were intended by the writer/director. There is an extraordinary amount of dialogue that becomes tedious about 10 minutes into the movie and you quickly learn that the laughs are intended to come from overwrought banter that leaves you wanting to talk back at the screen and tell them to move on already. You might chuckle a little at the beginning of a witty back and forth and then it turns into a seemingly endless 'who's on first' where you're hoping one of the actors gets murdered so they can move on to the next scene.
The story line was plausible by Hollywood standards. If you watched 'The Proposal' with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds and said to yourself 'yeah, that could happen' then you'll have no problems with this movie. For everyone else that doesn't fall into that category, you'll want to say out loud 'Oh come one!' to at least the following scenes:
Fiona and company being dragged to a party the night before her wedding by her fiancée's best friend (Leonard) when she already thinks Leonard is crazy.
Fiona's turn on a dime personality change from stuffy rigid Fiona to 60's live and let live Fiona in defiance of William at the party.
William copping to duping Fiona on the eve of their wedding and somehow expecting her to carry on as if nothing happened.
Everyone's initial reaction to William announcing his lie -- they don't kick him out of the house? And then they let him, his brother and his brother's prostitute spend the night in their home?
Leonard plopping down on the couch next to Edward in the basement after Edward threatened to kill him and announcing that he wanted to suck his wife's toes -- what the hell was that scene?
You find yourself having to suspend belief at the character's actions and feeling like the only reason they're not doing what a normal person would do is because they need the character in the next scene for a laugh (the prostitute tags along with the other women into the basement? What the hell is she still doing at the house?).
All of this being said -- the movie was well acted for what they were asked to do. The chemistry was good between Ed Weeks and Tom Bell who both seem to be very capable actors. Edward was the most believable character in the movie thanks to Bruce Davison's solid performance. There are times that you will laugh if you're able to fight through the wearying banter and you can even enjoy the plot if you shut off your brain for 90 minutes. There are a lot of movies that are worse and for that reason -- 4 stars.
The story line was plausible by Hollywood standards. If you watched 'The Proposal' with Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds and said to yourself 'yeah, that could happen' then you'll have no problems with this movie. For everyone else that doesn't fall into that category, you'll want to say out loud 'Oh come one!' to at least the following scenes:
Fiona and company being dragged to a party the night before her wedding by her fiancée's best friend (Leonard) when she already thinks Leonard is crazy.
Fiona's turn on a dime personality change from stuffy rigid Fiona to 60's live and let live Fiona in defiance of William at the party.
William copping to duping Fiona on the eve of their wedding and somehow expecting her to carry on as if nothing happened.
Everyone's initial reaction to William announcing his lie -- they don't kick him out of the house? And then they let him, his brother and his brother's prostitute spend the night in their home?
Leonard plopping down on the couch next to Edward in the basement after Edward threatened to kill him and announcing that he wanted to suck his wife's toes -- what the hell was that scene?
You find yourself having to suspend belief at the character's actions and feeling like the only reason they're not doing what a normal person would do is because they need the character in the next scene for a laugh (the prostitute tags along with the other women into the basement? What the hell is she still doing at the house?).
All of this being said -- the movie was well acted for what they were asked to do. The chemistry was good between Ed Weeks and Tom Bell who both seem to be very capable actors. Edward was the most believable character in the movie thanks to Bruce Davison's solid performance. There are times that you will laugh if you're able to fight through the wearying banter and you can even enjoy the plot if you shut off your brain for 90 minutes. There are a lot of movies that are worse and for that reason -- 4 stars.