Parents' Guide to The Big Wedding

How such a talented group of actors could have signed on for such a mediocre comedy is a mystery. Writer-director Justin Zackham has included so many ridiculous plot points in The Big Wedding that the entire movie is hard not to scoff through -- like the idea that Ellie would be so forgiving to a best friend who slept with her husband, or that long-divorced exes would have sex when one of them is in a committed relationship, or that a 29-year-old virgin who promised to wait for love would forget all of that at the sight of his adopted brother's hot birth sister. The examples go on and on, and instead of being funny, they just make it obvious why the movie is little more than a series of gags strung together over one ludicrous weekend. The humor punches down at Colombians, Catholics, the Spanish language, Asian countries, queer people -- you name it -- while a "default" Protestant White American family is positioned as the well-intentioned, if sometimes prejudiced, norm.

It's a shame that such a talented ensemble couldn't have gathered for a better movie. Instead, The Big Wedding will make audiences wistful for far funnier wedding or family reunion comedies like Father of the Bride, Meet the Parents, or My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Sure, there are a few low-hanging laughs, but for the most part, the only noteworthy aspect of the movie is that it reminds viewers that sexuality doesn't simply disappear in older age, and that women, too, can (and should) experience pleasure well into their 60s.