El Bicho's Hive

A Collection of Reviews Covering the Worlds of Art and Entertainment alongside other Snobbish Ramblings.

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

WEDDING DAZE (2006)



Practical jokes are always funny until they get played on you. It sounded like a good idea that in honor of April Fool’s Day some of us would trade bad films that we were forced to review. I chuckled to myself as I stuck someone with the likely unfunny Bachelor Party 2, but the laughter died when my selection was named: Wedding Daze. At least Fumo was likely to see topless chicks.

I had not heard of the title, which is surprising because I stay abreast of what’s happening in movie news and Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher are known actors. Upon further investigation I discovered that I hadn’t missed the U.S. theatrical release because there hadn’t been one. It did get a U.K. release back in 2006 under the title The Pleasure of Your Company and some websites also list it as going by The Next Girl I See, at what point I don’t know.

Accepting my fate, and pondering for a moment on the notion that maybe it’s true what you put out into the universe does come back, I brought a few beers down to my glorious entertainment room and braced myself for anything.

The movie opens with Anderson (Biggs) in a lingerie store, purchasing a pair of red sparkly women’s panties. He meets his best friend Ted outside a fancy restaurant, the kind I usually dine in, with the plan to propose to his girlfriend Vanessa dressed as Cupid in the aforementioned panties, a pair of wings, and with his body all oiled up. As he dresses, she is flirting with the waiter, some sort of ex-Special Forces guy, or so he claims. Anderson goes in and the proposal causes such a shock that Vanessa keels over. I was envious that she was able to get out of this movie within seven minutes.

A year goes by, which coincidentally is also the same amount of time I felt I had wasted by the movie’s conclusion, and Anderson is unemployed and still in a funk. Finally dragged out to lunch with Ted, he responds to Ted’s pestering to move on and get over Vanessa by proposing to their waitress, Katie.

She reflects on the night before when she was playing charades with her seemingly perfect boyfriend William, her mom Lois, and her stepfather Stuart, who is always seen in a matching yarmulke. Katie’s father is in prison. William proposed to Katie, who hesitated to accept, which we learn by the movie’s conclusion in what apparently is supposed to be funny, but really comes out of nowhere, is because her gaydar is finely tuned. Taking him by surprise, Katie accepts Anderson’s proposal. They go for a walk and as they talk they question the seriousness of the commitment they just made. They seem on the verge of backing out, but figure what the heck, their lives both need a change.

Katie fills a couple of suitcases and gets a friend, Matador, to take her to Anderson’s. Matador wants to join the circus, which is the impetus (a word I like using as a writer) for another series of jokes that aren't particularly funny. Matador hits Anderson with his car and while he is knocked out Vanessa appears and makes Anderson promise to break up with Katie.

In the apartment, Anderson comes to and Katie gets settled. As night approaches, the sleeping arrangements need to be figured out, which is understandably awkward considering they just met. Anderson goes to brush his teeth and in an admittedly funny sequence where Fisher shows some comedic chops she tries a number of sexy poses for Anderson’s entrance from the bathroom. Fisher looks hot in just an unbuttoned man’s shirt and black bra, but it freaks Anderson out and he runs to Ted’s place. Inexplicably, Katie’s gaydar didn’t go off then.

The rest of the film is the typical template for romantic comedies. They get into a fight over Anderson still being love with Vanessa, but they make up quickly. They head to Atlantic City in a “borrowed” car from the lot Ted works at. On the way, William finds them and fights Anderson. They all end up in jail, but get out, and get married. The end.

The movie was written and directed by Michael Ian Black. He was a member of the comedy troupe The State and is known for his funny observations in VH-1 clip shows. This might mislead people into thinking this movie is funny. It’s not. It’s very boring and amateurish.

Wedding Daze, or whatever the title is as you read this review, should only be shown in its entirety to producers of future projects to prove that Black can complete a movie, and possibly investors. According to IMDB.com, the film grossed just over two million pounds, and while that's not a lot at the box office, the production values look just barely above a student film, so it could well have made money as long as everyone worked for cheap rates.

Of course, there is one other group of potential viewers: victims of practical jokes. I am already plotting next year.

Labels: , , , ,

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home