The Wedding Ringer

"God created the world in seven days. We gotta do a whole lot more in a lot less time." Doug Harris (Gad) is getting married but has a problem. Doug doesn't have any friends and needs groomsmen. When he is told about Jimmy (Hart) he thinks he found his solution. The more the two get to know each other the more they find out about themselves. I was a little leery about this movie. The previews made it seem funny enough and I really like Josh Gad, but Kevin Hart can sometimes get a little too annoying for me. This is an exception. Hart played it almost perfect and I never once felt like he was too over the top or annoying like in Ride Along. I laughed much more than I was expecting to at this and there is enough types of humor for everyone to find something they will like. There is also enough heart and story in this to keep you interested in what is happening and not just waiting for the next joke. Me and my wife both liked this more than we expected too and this is one of the better comedies to come out in a while. Overall, nothing all that original and pretty predictable but it was very funny and when you rent a comedy that is what you are looking for. To me this is Kevin Hart's best movie I have seen. I give this a B+.

Doug is a nerdy introvert who is about to get married to a beautiful girl Gretchen. However, with two weeks to go before their grand wedding, Doug still could not come up with a Best Men and six groomsmen. Enter the smooth-talking hustler Jimmy who runs a Best Man for rent business to provide what Doug so desperately needed: a best friend. The spoofy title comes from the traditional Best Man duty of bringing the wedding rings during the ceremony.

Many wedding comedies would be about the bride, like "My Best Friend's Wedding" or "Bride Wars." There have been movies about the parents, like "Father of the Bride" or "Mother of the Bride". There have been been movies about the "The Wedding Planner" or "The Wedding Singer' or even "Wedding Crashers.' More recently, there had films about members of the entourage of either gender, "The Hangover" and "Bridesmaids." As a point of distinction, "The Wedding Ringer" is an uncommon wedding comedy made from the point of view of the groom.

Josh Gad is well-cast as the shy and socially-inept groom-to-be Doug. With his chubby frame, smiling face and polite demeanor, it is not hard to rally behind him and root him on. It is not really hard to conceive how a significant number of men could face the problems as Doug, not having male friends close enough to call a best man or groomsmen. He is easy for the audience to identify with.

Kevin Hart is a natural to play the boisterous and gregarious Jimmy, who had to fit in all the tall tales that Doug told Gretchen about his imaginary "best friend" dubiously named Bic. Despite his character's filthy mouth prone to profanity, Hart still manages to be funny and engaging in a potentially annoying role.

The other actors portraying the "groomsmen" were a rowdy random bunch of the strangest types of men. They were hit and miss in their jokes, many times coming off as too cringe-worthy. Easily recognizable among them is hefty, long-haired Jorge Garcia. The very final scene is even a well- placed reference to Garcia's most famous role on the hit TV thriller series "Lost."

As the bride Gretchen, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting basically reprises her breakthrough role as a sexy but flaky girl in an unlikely relationship with a nerd on hit TV comedy series "Big Bang Theory". More positively impressive is Olivia Thirlby as Gretchen's younger sister Alison. Ms. Thirlby is very pretty and smart, making a mark despite her limited screen time.

Overall, "The Wedding Ringer," with all its derivative, shallow and raunchy humor, still manages to come across with some insightful ideas about male friendships and its intricacies. The lead pair of Josh Gad and Kevin Hart share a vibrant bromantic comic chemistry together that is a lot of fun to watch. Looking forward to watching more film projects starring these two upcoming young comedians. 6/10.

Josh Gad and Kevin Hart bring the laughs out in this hysterical buddy comedy. Josh Gad plays Doug Harris, who is two weeks away from getting married to his beloved fiancée, Gretchen Palmer. However, Doug doesn't have any close friends to attend his wedding. He hires Jimmy Callahan, played by Kevin Hart, to provide best men to attend his wedding. As the days approach, an unexpected friendship develops between Doug and Jimmy, and wild nights of hysteria ensues. This is one of the funniest R-rated comedies I've seen since 22 Jump Street, which was last summer. Its funny, hysterical, and sure had me laughing frequently.

Kevin Hart has been one of the funniest actors in Hollywood. I was quite surprised to see Josh Gad doing a comedy. I have only known him doing the voice of Olaf in Disney's Frozen, and playing Steve Wozniak in the biopic drama Jobs, which was a critical failure. I also surprised by the comedic chemistry him and Kevin Hart brought in this movie. The dance during the wedding reception scene with these two was easily one of the most laugh-inducing scenes in the film. The scene taking place a the bachelor with the dog was a bit crude, but I couldn't help laugh. Kevin Hart also delivers some of the funniest dialogue in many scenes. Sure, there are some scenes that were a bit predictable, but they still manage to be entertaining.

Overall, this movie didn't disappoint me very much. It was very funny and entertaining. If you are a Kevin Hart fan, this movie is a good choice. Be cautious, there are a few nude scenes but don't let them turn you away.

A comedy starring Kevin Hart, The Wedding Ringer is a tale of a Jimmy Callahan (Kevin Hart) who has a business that help grooms survive the wedding process. In this case Doug Harris (Josh Gad) has found the woman of his dreams. He just has to give her the fairy tale ending she deserves. In comes Bic (Kevin Hart) to save the day (for a small fee) and allow the couple to live happily ever after. A silly funny film that makes for a good laugh and realize the silliness of putting needless pressures on a big day in a man and woman's life. A perfect movie for those days you want to have a big laugh. I enjoyed it and can't wait for my wedding day.

I'm now writing this review back to back with another (similar?) comedy Unfinished Business (2015) with Vince Vaughn (who actually was supposed to be the star of the wedding ringer along with Owen Wilson).

I'm disappointed from most of the recent comedies, so I had low expectations with this one too. Well...the verdict is...it's better than expected! Not a masterpiece or anything but it works.

The premise? You've seen it before in many variations. A socially unpopular guy is engaged to be married with a "hot" woman, above his looks and status. His problem? He doesn't have any friends, so he hires a professional "best man" and his team, so he can offer to his woman the wedding she dreamed of.

Josh Gad and Kevin Hart are not first class comedians. They have some chemistry though, so the inevitable bromance works.

There are some funny moments. A dance. Some crude humor but not too much. It looks like Wedding Crashers "Lite".

Overall: Watch it if you had the time. Not great but overall is satisfying enough.

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