The Wilde Wedding

If it weren't for Minnie Driver I would've been bored out of my skull. My take away is that the lives of actors are excruciatingly boring. The actors do their job well and act but it's just sad and tedious. If I could only submit 3 lines my review would be completed but apparently a good review must contain more content than is necessary...sorta like this movie.

The Wilde wedding is that of Eve Wilde, a retired actress about to marry for the 4th time. Invited to the wedding is her ex-husband, her children, her grandchildren, her husband to be, his daughters, a few exes and a friend or two throw in. When introduced to guests/characters, a predictable chaos ensues. Harold (Patrick Stewart) is the groom to be who believes Eve will be the one to change him. Her ex-husband Laurence (John Malkovich) is both comfortable and uncomfortable as a guest in his own home.

The setting is supposedly in an upstate New York home, the grounds are beautiful, the home is spacious and classic. They all appear to be getting along until the pivotal event occurs, but of course you knew there would be one. It all ends as you think it will. Still I liked the film, why? Because it has some of my favorite actors in it and it didn't have some hidden meaning in the end. Good film with a glass of wine and an appetizer.

Suggestion: Pino grigio and crab dip

Mackenzie Darling is filming her family as her movie star grandma Eve Wilde (Glenn Close) is getting married again. Her new groom is famed writer Harold Alcott (Patrick Stewart). Her first husband and first love Laurence Darling (John Malkovich) is still in the picture. There are cousins, uncles, and Mackenzie's divorced parents, Priscilla Jones (Minnie Driver) and Ethan Darling (Peter Facinelli).

Filmmaker Damian Harris is following the wrong characters. There are too many of them with too many relationships. I had trouble following the kids and some of the uncles. With the great cast up top, this should be concentrating more on the veteran love triangle. They should be the stars of the show. The writing is average at best. It's meandering and rambling. It's quirky without actually being funny. There are all kinds of possibilities that don't get enough nurturing. The biggest sin is wasting these great actors' time.

An all-star ensemble cast gathers at the palatial home of retired movie star Eve Wilde (Glenn Close), as she prepares to marry (her fifth) novelist Harold Alcott (Patrick Stewart). Close and John Malkovich,who portrays her first husband Laurence, are strong on screen, and I liked the performance of Yael Stone, as Clementine, one of Harold's daughters, in a supporting role.

However, despite the terrific cast, I found the film itself quite disappointing with almost all the characters self-indulgent and shallow. Their continuous attempts at having sexual flings get quite tedious.

Overall, this movie, written and directed by Damian Harris, just came across to me as hollow and soulless.

I was going to start out saying this is a Woody Allen clone film, but then thought well, heck, there's a whole genre of films out there that I would call the upper-middle class family relationship genre. What usually implies Woody Allen is when they're set in New York, as this film is, and the family is Jewish, which was not stated in this film, nor was it not stated.

That said, The Wilde Wedding had much about it that kept me watching: good looking and interesting characters, some of whom are also celebrities in the arts and/or literature; pleasing physical settings in the suburbs and rural areas not far outside NYC; and ultimately, musings on the nature of love and marital relationships, and others, while the families act out some of these relationships.

What I especially liked about it was that even when things got somewhat strained between characters, overall the tone of the film was good-natured. There is some tongue-in-cheek humor, and some wine- and shroom- fueled antics which ultimately contribute to the overall happy mood.

Though it touches on some of the heavy subjects of life, highlighted with quotes by some of the heavies such as Shakespeare and Nietzsche, The Wilde Wedding is an hour and a half's worth of enjoyable film viewing.