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The Big Wedding (2013)
The Big Wedding (2013)
I come from a very dysfunctional family, but I am sure that we all do in one way or another. So maybe that is why I am drawn to dysfunctional movies.
The Big Wedding is about a couple that must pretend to be married even though they have been divorced for a very long time. Their adopted son is getting married and the family is reuniting for the wedding, but his birth mother is unaware that his adopted parents were ever separated.
The film was directed by Justin Zackham and the noteworthy cast includes Robert De Niro, Diane Keaton, Susan Surandon, Topher Grace, Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Ben Barnes, Robin Williams, Christine Ebersole, David Rasche, Patricia Rae, and Ana Ayora.
The movie is inappropriate from the very first scene and delightfully dysfunctional throughout.
The film revolves more around the families of the groom and bride rather than the groom and bride themselves. That is what the movie actually has going for it because instead of being a sappy love story, it is more about the harsh reality of the lives of the family attending the wedding.
It’s very amusing to see acting legends De Niro, Keaton, Surandon, and Williams all in the same film together and all as awesome as ever.
There are tons of laughs to be had in this film. From the awkwardness of a divorced couple acting like they are married to the funny insults back and forth between siblings and the jokes that get lost in translation with the adopted kid’s foreign birth family.
The humor is raunchy and there is a lot of language.
I laughed harder than I thought I would. The Big Wedding was a pleasant surprise. It was hilarious, witty, messed up, heartfelt, and dysfunctional. It was just like family should be, or at least how my family is.
The film appears like it could be a chick flick, but don’t be fooled. It was just a pure comedy.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
If you liked The Big Wedding, then you will most likely enjoy:
The Company You Keep (2012)
The Company you Keep (2012)
The Company you keep is based off of the novel with the same name written by Neil Gordon.
The film follows a journalist (Shia LaBeouf) who discovers the true identity of a former member of The Weather Underground (Robert Redford) who is wanted in connection to a murder.
I was excited to see this movie because I often enjoy movies about investigative journalism, not to mention the cast is fully loaded with talent. Redford directs and stars alongside LaBeouf, Julie Christie, Susan Surandon, Stanley Tucci, Terrence Howard, Nick Nolte, Chris Cooper, Richard Jenkins, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Elliot, Stephen Root, Anna Kendrick, Brit Marling, and Jackie Evancho. Redford may be getting old, but he still has the star power to bring together a big A-list group of actors to make a movie.
The Weather Underground is an anti-war activist group that was around during the Vietnam War era. I had heard about this group before, but I went into the film knowing absolutely nothing about them. The movie explains what the group was all about, but given the fact that the story is based off of a novel, they sort of mix fact with fiction.
Like most films about investigative journalism, the story moves along at a slow to steady pace as the reporter tries to figure things out about the story that he is trying to tell. There is plenty of time for character development and the dialogue is well-written. Great actors tend to pop up out of the woodwork like weeds when these types of movies are made and The Company you Keep is no exception.
It was refreshing to see Robert Redford acting again. He hasn’t been in a movie since Lions for Lambs (2007). Although he has always been a tremendous actor, he really has aged. They tried to make him seem younger in the film by dying his hair and having him jogging in one scene. But, when all is said and done, the movie icon was too old for the part he was playing. This fact took a little bit away from the film.
The person that really stood out the most was Shia LaBeouf. He has strong screen presence, and when he is not doing a Transformers movie, his charisma can really take over a movie. The rest of the cast played their parts well but, LaBeouf was the glue that held the film together.
The Company you Keep was quality filmmaking with a few flaws. The flaws weren’t very noticeable until a little over halfway through the film. Redford did his best with the story that he had, but ultimately the movie was anticlimactic and it became predictable. The dialogue was great, the acting was superb, but there were few surprises along the way to make the movie stand out.
The film was worth seeing, if only to watch masters of the acting craft at work.
I rate this movie a 7 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Rent.
If you liked The Company You Keep, then you will probably enjoy the following films:
Top 13 Disappointing Current Redbox Movies
Top 13 Disappointing Current Redbox Movies
There are many terrible movies out there. I have avoided renting movies at the Redbox just because they looked bad. You know which ones that I’m talking about. The ones that rip off movies that are actually popular by giving them similar titles and making the cover art look remarkably alike, but are actually knock offs that nobody should have to suffer through. That being said, there are probably worse movies at the Redbox than what are on my list. My list however, is a compilation of movies that actually looked like they could be good in one way or another. Something about these movies made me go to the theatre and watch them, or go to the Redbox and rent them. I made this list to save you time and money. Don’t get duped like I did. They might have a good cast. They might look funny. They might look scary. They might look intense and full of good action. They might look like they have a nice touching story. They are none of those things (well, sometimes except for the cast). They are poor excuses for movies. Stay far away from these awful creations.
With my list I have included the cover art to the movies, so that you know exactly what to avoid. I have not posted any trailers, because you don’t even want to waste your time with those. They will trick you. I have also listed my ratings of each movie. My ratings are on a scale of 1-10. My full review will be available for some of the movies. If the title is highlighted, then you can click on it for my full review.
I do not claim to have seen all of the movies that are currently available to rent at the Redbox, but I have seen 76 of them. Of those 76 movies, my Top 13 Disappointing Current Redbox Movies are:
1. V/H/S (2012) My rating: 1
4. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
6. The Man with the Iron Fists (2012) My rating: 3
7. Silent Hill: Revelation (2012) My rating: 3
8. Deadfall (2012) My rating: 4
10. The Liability (2012) My rating: 4.5
11. Lay the Favorite (2012) My rating: 4.5
12. The Cold Light of Day (2012) My rating: 4.5
13. That’s My Boy (2012) My rating: 5
Now that you know what movies to avoid, Check out my other Redbox related material. Click on the links below:
Current Redbox Movie Reviews September 2013
Current Redbox Movie Reviews August 2013
Current Redbox Movie Reviews July 2013
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies Vol. 2
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies Vol. 3
Top 13 Current Redbox Movies Vol. 4
Are you a fan of Netflix? Click on the following links below for Netflix related material:
Netflix Watch Instantly Movie Reviews September 2013
20 Best Drama Movies Based on Real Life Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
20 Best Classics Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Mind-bending Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Comedy Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Romantic Comedy Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best War/Military Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
13 Best Gritty Action/Thriller Movies Available on Netflix Watch Instantly
Happy Movie Watching!
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