Laughing All The Way To The Altar, Or The Beach, Or To Sleep
The Popcorn Reel Movie Review: "License To Wed"
By Omar P.L. Moore/July 3, 2007
Cold feet? Happy feet? Funny feet? Mandy
Moore as Sadie, Robin Williams as Reverend Frank, and John Krasinski as Ben, in
"License To Wed", directed by Ken Kwapis. The film opened today in the
United States and opens in Canada on July 6. (Photo: Peter Sorel/Warner
Brothers)
printer-friendly
Robin Williams plays Reverend Frank in this Chicago-based film
directed by Ken Kwapis as a member of the religious order who presents the
pre-marriage ritual as a baptism of fire. To be married in the church of
Reverend Frank, who have to have zero skeletons in your closet and be holier
than thou. For Ben Murphy (John Krasinski), Reverend Frank's pre-marital
crash course in endurance is an ordeal of slapstick, madcap mania and no sex,
which is an ordeal in and of itself for Ben. Ben's fiancee Sadie Jones
(Mandy Moore) on the other hand, has no trouble abiding by the good reverend's
program.
"License To Wed" puts its marrieds-to-be through the ringer, as well as its
audience. The film has numerous laugh-out-loud moments but by the
hour-mark the film's comedic juice has been thoroughly squeezed, leaving a stale
aftertaste. There is a feeling at a certain point, that the actors have
worked too hard to get the audience to laugh, and they themselves seem exhausted
by their own efforts. With such a film there aren't many places to go
(except Jamaica) and the performances are standard fare -- with nothing
earth-shattering. Mandy Moore, who has successfully picked her spots over
the years with acting in films while her music career excels, does what she can
here. (Soon she will be seen in a harder-edged film called "Dedication",
about a misogynist book editor who doesn't want to work with Miss Moore's
character.) Here, Mr. Krasinski plays straight man in Ben, and when the
going gets tough Ben takes out his frustration on two innocent bystanders -- the
remote-control babies that are strapped to his chest. Some of these scenes
are hilarious (if you don't have children) and cringe-inducing (whether you have
children of your own or not.) On the other hand, when you have to resort
to beating up on innocent robotic babies to get laughs, you should know that you
(and your film) are in big trouble.
As in many marriage comedies, there are the obligatory exposition scenes of
Sadie's odd, dysfunctional family (played by Peter Strauss, Christine Taylor,
Roxanne Hart and Grace Zabriskie -- whom as Grandma Jones is recognizable to
viewers as the mysterious neighbor to Laura Dern in David Lynch's great "Inland
Empire" earlier this year) and Ben's best friend Joel (DeRay Davis) who gives
his pal Ben all the best and worst advice a best friend can. There are the
predictable sight gags. And one knows that when Reverend Frank and Ben
play catch with a baseball early on in the film, something will go wrong.
"License To Wed" runs at a hysterical pitch for much of its 90-plus-minute
running time. The cadence of its comedy (written by Kim Barker and Tim
Rasmussen & Vince Di Meglio) is herky-jerky, sometimes wildly exaggerated and an
ultimately shallow exercise. Films like this one are far from new, and
it's too bad that the actors assembled couldn't put a fresh spin on the genre or
make this film more engaging. Mr. Williams is not up to his comedic best
here (serious drama is his strongest point at this stage of his film career) and
he only appears intermittently in Mr. Kwapis' film, wisely picking his spots.
(After the disaster "Death To Smoochy", Mr. Williams has tried it seems,
to steer clear of the most cynical comedies that he can. Perhaps with
"License To Wed" he doesn't steer clear enough.) Wanda Sykes makes a cameo
as Nurse Borman, but even her appearance in a hospital is too quick and frenzied
to make much of an impression. There is Reverend Frank's adorably funny
sidekick Choir Boy (Josh Flitter) who has his moments, but once you've seen his
and the rest of this film's antics, you've been reminded of them in countless
other movies.
As has become an increasingly frequent trend over the last ten years -- and for
longer than that -- American comedies have reserved their end credits to put
their funnier (or not-so-funny) moments on display. In Mr. Kwapis' case,
some of the end credit gags may have been better in the actual film.
During "License To Wed" when Reverend Frank utters one of the ten marriage
commandments ("Be Chill Don't Kill"), American audiences cannot help but think
of O.J. Simpson -- and sure enough, in the end credit gag reel Mr. Williams
references Mr. Simpson's name. This moment is greeted with a mix of
laughs, indifference and a feeling of unease. After all, if a comedy has
to go back 12 or 13 years to generate a laugh, albeit a lukewarm one, then
originality never gets to come into the equation.
"License To Wed" is rated PG-13 for sexual humor and language. The
film's running time is one hour and 43 minutes (or thereabouts). The film
opens in Canada on July 6. Contrary to what you see, no babies were harmed
in the making of this film.
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