The Wedding Year

Don't really undrstand the low ratings. It's a romcom people, not Wuthering Heights. I thought it was cute, funny and light. Exactly what I was looking for.

While some concepts of the storytelling is typical, it grabbed me on the not so typical dialogues. I was laughing throughout the movie, until of course, the sad bits. The chemistry between the leads were undeniable, they look great together. I really loved it, it is definitely worth a watch. Love the random but real dialogues.

Mara (Sarah Hyland) is a single gal in L.A. She works in a clothing boutique for Ellie (Anna Camp). Alex is her gay best friend. She goes on a date with Jake (Tyler James Williams) and it goes very well. Her sister Jessica (Jenna Dewan) is getting married despite their parents' disaster marriage. It's the start of an avalanche of wedding invitations for both her and Jake. They have a drinking game to whittle down the list to seven.

I love the cast. I love both of the leads. I want the best for them and they are both extremely likeable TV sitcom actors. The writer writes mostly for TV sitcoms. The director has made a couple of fine rom-coms earlier in his career. The problem is that the comedy doesn't always reach high enough. They need a wacky best friend. As for the central romantic conflict, it's not that well drawn out. Ellie's wedding is one of the funniest part of the movie. Mara's family gathering makes no sense. Her parents would never be in the same room together unless they intend to fight to the death. Jake's religious family comes out of nowhere although the cheese burger is a funny bit. I really want to love this movie but it doesn't have enough.

I'm not a great fan of romantic comedies, so I sat in expecting nothing. It had some good moments, but overall it failed to be anything more than a cute love story.

The main focus of the movie is about the stage of a relationship, when it begins to become serious. What problems couples encounter when planning their life together? Is love enough to make it work? What if you don't like your partner's family? What if you don't aggree with when do you want to have children and where to raise them?

This is a point where the movie could have been unique, because romantic movies rarely focus on this stage of the relationship instead of the falling in love part. However, it fails to do so big time, because it doesn't care to answer these questions. The moral is simply "forget problems, love will solve everything", which is not a real solution to the main characters' problems, and it is also dealt with in one sentence.

The acting is... okay I guess. Sarah Hyland brings the exact same character as in Modern Family, the others are nothing special. The characters are clichéd (eccentric girl with commitment issues, guy coming from a small town with dreams, shy gay friend, conservative southern parents, etc.). I liked the film's structure with the seven weddings showing the progression of their relationships.

So, to summarize, a typical romantic comedy, which tries to be something more than that, but fails to be. If you like rom-coms, you'll have fun watching it with popcorn and soda, but don't expect anything more.

I think a lot of these reviews are very harsh. I went into this movie expecting a light & fun rom com and that is exactly what I got. I think the leads do a great job of highlighting each other. Also if you listen to any review that includes the words "chick movie"...yikes.