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Parents' Guide to

License to Wed

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 14+

Predictable wedding comedy is all about Williams.

Movie PG-13 2007 90 minutes
License to Wed Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 14+

Based on 3 parent reviews

The Good Life
The Good Life Parent of 14-year-old
July 24, 2019
age 15+

One iffy scene

We watched it with our 14 year olds and the only scene that was iffy was when they talked AT LENGTH about different places to have sex, and what the main characters "liked in bed".
bow_ties_are_cool
bow_ties_are_cool Adult
January 7, 2018
age 13+

Annoying

This movie seems to start out okay, but when it would get to the parts that were supposed to be funny I would just cringe or not laugh. Robin Williams character is the small, very slight saving grace (if you could even call it that) of this movie. The couple just ends up bickering the whole time, mainly for stupid reasons. And in some cases, not very many, this could be seen as charming and create some good chemistry, but here it was just annoying. I watched to end to see if it would get better, but nothing really changed. There are some cute moments, but other than that I just ended up being slightly irritated.
See all 3 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Ben (John Krasinski) and Sadie (Mandy Moore) become engaged, and in order to get married at Sadie's family's church, must pass Reverend Frank's (Robin Williams) ludicrously long and intrusive premarital counseling course.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3 ):
Kids say (3 ):

The course's loopy group tests are predictable but funny, particularly those featuring a buffoonish groom-to-be played by fellow Office worker Brian Baumgartner. But its ludicrous that any respectable clergyman would become a crazy voyeur before every wedding ceremony or that a bride would demand to stay in such an invasive course -- one that actually involves "creepy robot babies" that emit fake bodily fluids -- just to get married in her home church. But this isn't a comedy that thrives on realism.

Moore and Krasinski don't have much to do besides watch Williams riff. They're charming actors, so the romance is believable enough, but License to Wed is basically a fluffy piece of Robin Williams cake. If you enjoy his flavor of comedy, this is an amusing, light flick. But if you're sick of his manic antics, don't bother to RSVP.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about how romantic comedies typically depict engaged couples and weddings. Is the depiction at all realistic? Do you think a realistic look at a wedding would be as funny? What do you think of Robin Williams' portrayal of a clergyman? Do you prefer him in comedies or dramas?

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