Familienehre

Nothing could bring more rivalry between parents and would be in-laws as a wedding. The young couple in this story has more common sense than their elders. They just want a small affair, but then, the parents get involved blowing the whole thing out of proportion. What a terrible waste these things are. After all, most of them would end up in divorce.

Alan Alda has written, directed and is one of the stars of "Betsy's Wedding", a film about two different families, one struggling, and the other one rich, whose children are going to marry. The comedy is a bit dated. What starts as a small wedding ends up as an elaborate celebration in a tent in the middle of a rain storm. There are a few laughs in the picture.

Best of the whole thing are Ally Sheedy and Anthony LaPaglia who are supposed to be secondary characters. The large cast does what it can with the material they have to play. Alan Alda, Madeline Kahn, Molly Ringwald, Dylan Walsh, Joe Pesci, and Catherine O'Hara are seen as the family members.

A father (Alda) learns that his daughter (Ringwald) wants to get married. He is determined to give her an extravagant wedding even though his construction business is not doing well and he is in bad need of money.

If this thing had been played to it's full potential this might have been a real slam bang wedding satire. All the ingredients are there: feuding in-laws, disagreements on religions, seating arrangements, fashion styles, cost, and of course all those other unforeseen catastrophes. Unfortunately, like with all of Alda's films, he never plays anything out. He starts with something interesting and then pulls back just as it is about to get good. Some keen insights into the wedding process are lost. The climatic wedding 'disaster' is limp and only half of what it could have been. The needless story thread involving Alda's 'initiation' into a Italian crime family is both dumb and highly sterotyped.

The films lone payoff is the appearance of Bishop. He plays Alda's dead father and appears sporadically as 'visions'. Some of his observations are funny. Pesci also gives his part a lot of energy in a role that is slightly atypical for him. Yet none of it is enough to make it memorable.

3 out of 10.

Like "Parenthood" and "Moonstruck," Betsy's Wedding is a funny, feel-good movie about a wonderfully eccentric family and their hilarious trials and tribulations - it's about everything but their daughter's wedding!

This movie has it all! The mob, crazy romances, and outrageous revenge schemes! The cast is so wonderful and I give a thumbs up for Mr. Alan Alda's direction. I loved Madeline Kahn as always, Ally Sheedy was her sexiest, Molly Ringwald was great, and a special gratitude for Catherine O'Hara and Joe Pesci for making me roll of my seat laughing.

If your a fan of "Father of the Bride 1 and 2" or "Runaway Bride," your sure going to enjoy "Betsy's Wedding."

SCANDAL. LUST. DISASTER. INTRIGUE. ...and the invitations haven't even gone out yet!

Enjoy the show!

I have to admire Alan Alda for writing a film that contains characters we can actually relate to. Characters who seem like normal, everyday people and not farcical Hollywood creations. The problem? The film hardly goes anywhere. And I only got a few laughs. I'm not asking for "The Naked Gun." I'm not asking for a new gag every two minutes. But this film just didn't have enough humor to classify itself as a comedy. It needed an extra dose of energy, and I feel Alda should've stayed in front of the camera. Because his direction is flat, and the whole movie just seems like one big home video. Though the movie is only a little over ninety minutes, I felt some scenes belonged on the cutting room floor.

The cast is superb and first-rate, and they could've shined with a funnier script. Joe Pesci is the best of a lot, in a role quite different from his usual wise-cracking, tough-guy-from-Brooklyn act. Other talents are Catherine O'Hara, Anthony LaPaglia, the late Madeline Kahn and Molly Ringwald.

My Dad used to say, whenever he would watch a bad comedy, "I guess they call it a comedy, since there's no tragedy in it." That's how I can classify "Betsy's Wedding." No tragedy, but the laughs are scarce.

P.S.: Look fast for Samuel L. Jackson as a taxi dispatcher.

My score: 5 (out of 10)

Alan Alda has worked with Woody Allen on several occasions, and it struck me watching this movie that he was trying for a Woody-ish ensemble piece. But, despite a fine cast, this is no Crimes and Misdemeanors.

The various plot strands are not woven together sufficiently well; some of the characters can be almost forgotten about during lengthy periods off-screen, including the eponymous Betsy. Ally Sheedy and Antony LaPaglia provide the film's brightest moments with their unlikely romance (although not so unlikely in the movies, of course!).