The plot is simple, a interacial couple decides to get married and without having told their parents return home to break the news. Quickly the families, hispanic and african american, clash with two fathers who seem to have absolutely no hope in ever getting along. On top of this we add major dysfunction within both families and more love relationships outside of the primary couple. This leads to the families fighting over details of the wedding causing it to no longer be the couple's wedding, but the parents. This is Our Family Wedding.
This is a film that has an alright premise with the possibility for success but ulitimately doesn't excell in that arena. It has a little bit of the feel of a screwball comedy but most of the time just feels too over the top for it's own jokes. Even then half the jokes become racist toward one family or the other with an abounding number of stereotypes to top off the gag reel. Now not everything is stereotyped but there is just enough for it to be too much.
We are at least able to relate to the main characters in their frustrations of planning a wedding and trying to deal with family issues. The problem is that it all feels so forced. The situations just aren't clever and genuine enough to really bring us into the moment. The film drags on as we wait for the inevitable wedding to take place. It just becomes a question of how it's going to get there. When we do finally get there it feels as if we should have skipped half the racist complications and family dilemmas that occur.
I will give it this, Our Family Wedding was a film brave enough to tackle a tough subject, that of interacial relationships. But yet it doesn't execute the theme successfully, rather with a mediocre grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment