Our Family Wedding
Directed by: Rick Famuyiwa
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Carlos Mencia, America Ferrera, Lance Gross, Regina King
Running Time: 1 hr 55 min
Rating: PG-13
Release Date: March 12, 2010
PLOT: Completely disregarding how perfect and lovely a couple Lucia (Ferrera) and Marcus (Gross) are together, their respective families clash unnecessarily for comic effect. Is it funny to watch other people implode?...yeah, sometimes.
WHO'S IT FOR? Anyone looking for a mild, cute little comedy who can convince someone else to buy the tickets.
EXPECTATIONS: I was happy to see it, because I had it confused with Death at a Funeral. On a Freudian level, that's actually pretty funny.
SCORECARD (0-10)
ACTORS:
Forest Whitaker as Brad Boyd: I like Whitaker in funny roles and I wish he'd do them more. He's normally so intense and serious that it makes it more fun to watch when he finally gets to let his hair down. It's a bit of a stretch that he's now the naughty, irresistible playboy, but it doesn't stand out as a major problem. Score: 6
Carlos Mencia as Miguel Ramirez: It's problematic to take someone who is usually and naturally funny on his own, and stick him in a boring role. Why bother if you're going to shove Mencia into the role of uncool, fuddy-duddy dad? It just comes off as weird and it also puts you in the position of constantly anticipating a funny joke that never actually manifests. Score: 5
America Ferrera as Lucia Ramirez: I do love America Ferrera and I want good things for her. Since this constitutes an ensemble cast, if the rest of the cast had been stronger, Ferrera would've done just fine. Unfortunately, the character isn't compelling enough on her own to actually take a big step away from the rest of the inane mish-mash. Plus, for whatever insane reason, the scriptwriters gave Lucia a darling, funny little sister--why not make Lucia the darling, funny one? Score: 6
Lance Gross as Marcus Boyd: This is a really good guy on so many levels that it just makes people's reactions harder to understand. Gross is handsome and winsome as Lucia's soul mate and there's no way (outside of stubborn, outright racism) that her family would continue to be so opposed. Score: 6
TALKING: It's not terrible, but what's problematic is that there are only a few characters who are really engaging. So whenever they're talking, it's all fine. As soon as someone less interesting opens their mouth, it's mostly drab and perfunctory. Score: 5
SIGHTS: There is some creative editing that adds to the experience, but it's overwhelmed and dragged under by a riptide of status quo. Score: 5
SOUNDS: I really liked the score, especially when they juxtaposed mariachi and rap at the party after the ceremony. Watching an eclectic group of people merrily and whole-heartedly getting their dance on always makes me really happy. I'm just so happy that they're so happy and they're being PAID to look happy--kudos to them. There was also a great scene that used the rhythm from a drumline to accentuate building tensions. Score: 7
BEST SCENE: My favorite scene was when the families got together to figure out the seating arrangements. Someone would suggest a possible seating arrangement and then we got to see the potential aftermath of that decision, which was really cute and funny.
ENDING: I think we've done the photo album slide-show ending to death. It was phenomenal in The Hangover, because it gave us a glimpse into their wild, obscured evening. Otherwise, unless it's dirty, strikingly funny, and/or touching, I vote no.
QUESTIONS: This may come off as naive, but who wouldn't be thrilled for Marcus and Lucia? They are a tremendously adorable couple. Doesn't it seem a little obsolete to play the culture clash card to such an extreme when things are so different now?
REWATCHABILITY: Not really, although once wasn't a bad time.
OVERALL
Our Family Wedding could've been solidly cute if not for a handful of tragic decisions on the part of the filmmakers. For example, the goat who gets into the viagra and then sexually assaults Carlos Mencia. I could see that being funny if you had some head trauma or you were smokin' the ganja, or--for best results--a combination of the two, but otherwise it's too stupid and bizarre. It doesn't fit with the tone of the rest of the movie, which doesn't lean at all on gross-out humor. And because that choice wasn't god-awful enough on its own, they also had the goat come up to Mencia later on and bleat out, "Call me." REALLY? A talking goat rapist in the midst of a movie that was, up until then, a wacky little comedy about warring families and a wedding?
So, barring the "unfortunate goat incident," as it will henceforth be called, Our Family Wedding is generally nice; generally nice like that somewhat nondescript person who manages to tell a funny joke here and there, and never means any harm, but will fade from your memory as soon as they leave the room.
Obviously, the formula has been around the block a few times, but it's always been a funny idea. And for whatever reason, disastrous weddings equal hilarity. The problem is that the filmmakers didn't go whole hog to avoid major stereotyping (mostly, kind of) and it ended up feeling timid and homogenized. This is tricky: you're making a movie about an African American man marrying a Mexican American woman in order to illuminate the humorous differences between the two cultures, but at the same time you're not really comfortable making overt jokes about either culture in an effort to maintain social sensitivity. It's kind of a wash and, like me, you'll probably spend the whole time wondering why anyone would object to a perfectly suited couple like Lucia and Marcus. Most people would be thrilled to have such a son-in-law or daughter-in-law.
FINAL SCORE: 6/10