The Wedding Planner (PG-13, 2001)

common sense media says

Disappointing would-be romantic comedy.


parents & educators say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that the movie includes some strong and graphic language (one "f--k" and scattered lesser words). The movie includes comic drunkenness and a character's alcohol abuse is also played for laughs. The scene with the statue includes a fairly graphic depiction of male genitals, which at one point get superglued to a character's hand.

Violence: Mild peril -- character hit by a car and suffers minor injuries.
Sex: Mild references, extended comic sequence concerning a statue's genitals.
Language: Some strong and graphic language.
Consumerism: Plenty of wealth on display as women plan their weddings.
Drinking, drugs, & smoking: Comic drunkenness and hangover, comic alcoholism, social drinking.

More on The Wedding Planner

What to talk about

Talk to your kids
Families can talk about how we know when we have met the person we truly love. Was the behavior of the main characters responsible? What hardships did their behavior impose on others? How is what Mary does to Massemo different from what her old boyfriend did to her? Families could also discuss Mary's reaction to seeing her old boyfriend with his pregnant wife. First she hides, then she embarasses him, and then she gets drunk. Why does she behave this way? How could she have behaved in a way that preserved her dignity and self-respect?

What's the story?

What's the story?

Jennifer Lopez plays Mary, a wedding planner who is so organized that she has all the essentials strapped to her belt, including smelling salts and superglue. She is also so cynical that she can predict the length of the marriage based on the song selected by the couple. Mary is supremely competent and confident at work, negotiating for a partnership in the firm if she can land an assignment for a dot-com zillionaire bride Fran (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras). Matthew McConaughey plays Steve, a pediatrician who saves Mary from an onrushing dumpster. They go out with Mary's friend for a movie and a dance under the stars, and Mary is smitten. Then she discovers that Steve is Fran's groom-to-be. Meanwhile, Mary's father (Alex Rocco) is trying to fix her up with a horrendous loser from the homeland.

Is it any good?

Is it any good?
 

THE WEDDING PLANNER is a disappointing would-be romantic comedy -- neither comic nor particularly romantic. Its biggest problem is a sitcom-style script with too much emphasis on the situation and not enough on the comedy. It fails to create a single believable or sympathetic character. What it gives us instead is a string of barely related skits about people whose behavior ranges from inconsistent to random. The result ranges from dull to annoying, with the few comic bits already overly familiar to us from the commercials. Jennifer Lopez is a talented and attractive performer, but she does not have the acting or comedy skills to transcend the limits of the script. She looks beautiful, but a little remote and unsympathetic.

There is no real narrative, only different locations for the characters to get into faux-adorable fixes. Here's one example: Mary and Steve knock over a nude male statue and his genitals break off. Much hoped-for hilarity but no actual laughs ensue as they try to glue it back on. Here's another example: Mary and Steve run into Mary's former beau and Mary hides under a table to avoid him. But they run into him (with his pregnant wife) anyway, and Mary responds by getting drunk. Two weddings have to be disrupted before it can all get straightened out and even that never-fail standard of the romantic comedy drags on until we can go home to find something better to watch on UPN.

Movie themes & details

Movie Details
Studio: Columbia Tristar
Director: Adam Shankman
Cast: Bridgette Wilson, Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey
Genre: Romance
Run time: 103 minutes
Theatrical release: January 26, 2001
DVD release: July 3, 2001
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: language and some sexual humor

This review was written by Nell Minow
 
 

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Most useful reviews by all members

SerinitySerind ...
kid, 12 years old
 
Now thats a movie.
I mean come on, if i tried to tell you how good that movie is i couldn't describe it in words.... But kids shouldn't be running around getting hang overs

dramaqueen@hot ...
parent of 11 year old
 
good movie
this is a real sweet movie i think kids 10 and up are allowed to see it !

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ON: Content is appropriate for kids this age.
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