Do You Take This Man

"Do You Take This Man" (2016) Whoa! I must have been in an extra sappy/romantic mood this evening.....because I was sobbing tears of joy at the end of this film. And, YES I am talking about the "ugly cry" sobbing....not the cute misty-eyed variety! LOL This film opens the day before Daniel and Christopher are to be married. The tension and drama are revving up in preparation for the "Rehearsal Dinner" (but since there was no Rehearsal I felt it should have been called the "Wedding Eve Dinner"?) that Type- A/Perfectionist Daniel is preparing. On the guest list: Daniel's parents, sister, and best friend; and Christopher's two best friends. SURPRISE! Christopher's friends have flown in his estranged BFF from childhood. Enter chaos. This film really tackles some deep stuff about love, family, relationships, communication, forgiveness, trust, and committment. It is an emotional roller coaster ride through surprises, secrets, hidden demons, fear, joy, love....the whoe gamet. AMAZING tidbits of wisdom given by Daniel's parents and recently divorced sister who realized "too late" how she contributed to the demise of her marriage. Ultimately a beautiful tribute to the power of true love. EXCELLENT casting!!! Anthony Rapp and Jonathan Bennett (who imdb says is from Rossford???) bring such chemistry to the screen. Alyson Hannigan (haven't seen her since "Buffy" days!) slips into the wise divorcee role like a hand in a glove. Mackenzie Astin, Sam Anderson, Lee Garlington, Thomas Dekker, and Marla Sokoloff round out the list of familiar faces in this project.

About 20 minutes into Do You Take This Man I was thinking it'd be an OK film for mindless viewing. But as it progressed it became a real chore sitting through it.

There's nothing interesting about the story and actually there's really not much of a story. The attempts at making the film seem complex and dramatic feel like an amateur's idea of what makes for a good plot.

Except for one of the main guys being highly irritating the rest of the characters are so forgettable as to be difficult to even notice. The irritating main charactrer is passive aggressively needy, subtly working to be the center of attention and ready to fly off the handle if things don't go his way. Even his love for his soon-to-be husband feels self centered.

The film looks OK though the house it's shot in has a lot to do with that. The music, though spare, is incredibly manipulative. It felt like the music was nudging me and whispering "This is sad...This is warm and meaningful...

If you want something queer to watch and you like TV drama you might enjoy this. Anyone else really shouldn't bother.

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This movie could have been about a heterosexual couple, but it isn't. It is about a homosexual couple. That is what makes this movie great. Good characters and acting. No crazy "gay" cliche filled movie .just a good movie that shows a homosexual couple as being just like a heterosexual couple. Nothing more...nothing less

Do You Take This Man (2016) was written and directed by Joshua Tunick.

This movie is a romantic comedy, starring Anthony Rapp as Daniel, a 40-year-old man, and Jonathan Bennett as Christopher, a 30-something man, who is going to marry Daniel the next day. As in almost all movies about weddings, things go wrong at the last minute. Some people who should be there aren't, and some people arrive unexpectedly.

And, of course, there's a major, core problem that has to be overcome. (Actually, it could have been overcome easily, but then there'd be no crisis. Crisis is very important in a movie like this.)

The lead actors are talented, the supporting cast of actors all do brilliant work, and there are plenty of laughs. (Predictable laughs, but that's OK.) There's also a fair amount of pscyhobabble, but maybe people really do talk and think that way in the Los Angeles/Hollywood setting.

This is the type of film that's worth seeing if you are already at a festival, and have all-event tickets. I wouldn't seek it out, but I wouldn't avoid it either. IMDb isn't accepting votes for this movie yet. If I could vote, I'd give it a 7.

We saw this film at the excellent Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum. It will work very well on the small screen. Do You Take This Man was shown as part of the outstanding ImageOut Rochester LGBT Film Festival. The film was one of 22 movies that had either their New York State premiere or their East Coast premiere at ImageOut. My compliments to the ImageOut Programming Committee for bringing so many new films to Rochester.

I am not going to start with any comment on the double entendre of the title. That is something that more involves the end... A pleasant, very decent movie with a professional cast. I didn't quite believe that these two could be a real couple, or that they would live in such a - somewhat - prosperous ambience with no visible means of support. Their economic background should have been written into the dialogue, somehow. Daniel confides to his friend that he has bought his betrothed a $300.00 pen in a tone suggesting that that is a lot of money to him. However, they are living in a large house in a neighborhood walking distance from the Hollywood sign... And we don't get any idea as to how Daniel got this money; his love interest Christopher is apparently an artist (and how many unknown artists ever make any real money?). The only person who ever bought a quantity of Christopher's art was Daniel. We don't even see any of his art, so either the budget didn't allow for licensing of any actual artist's work, or this work of ersatz Cinéma Vérité lacked a props master with such foresight. A long-lost friend reappears and he doesn't show her any of his life's work: His art...? The form is far greater here than the substance. The acting is near perfectly adequate. The production values are exceptionally adequate - but not notable. I am not saying that the narrative is shallow, but if this was a day at the beach you would barely get your knees wet. There was not any single line that was memorable, no scintillating dialogue. No real contour of emotional or erotic glamour. The scriptwriter may have captured verbal realism, but if people want that they can hear it on a bus or at a Burger King. It offers self-help, but in a very contradictory form. Who needs to hear the ancient cliché that "opposites really do attract". One minute Christopher realizes that he needs to deal with his past, and the next he is dismissing the past offhand. What does acknowledging and dealing with your past actually mean in practical terms? : Rehashed pop psychology. It became tedious at about half way for me. There was no real tension. A friend cancels, and that tension could have been easily undone by Daniel taking a few deep breaths. If the wedding had been a huge financial investment then it would have been different, but that was not indicated in any of the dialogue... Was this worth making? Yes. Is it worth seeing? Yes, but not an imperative. If you like predictability you'll like this movie. You don't have to wait until the end to get the pay off - you get it right at the first encounter. Just the way you want it.