Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Awful wedding comedy; drugs, heavy drinking, language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Wedding Games
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In WEDDING GAMES, Alex (Dan Ferreira) and Eva (Dandara Mariana) meet cute, overcome their long-distance romance problems, and get engaged. As family members drive and fly to the resort destination wedding, obstacles begin to present themselves. The RV carrying in-laws breaks down, twice, once in a desert without cell service. Alex, a broke video game designer, can't miss a last-minute meeting with a potential investor, even as the wedding looms. The meeting goes well but he lies to Eva about why he has missed his flight, pretending it was canceled. The meeting also makes him late for picking up Eva's lace dress. He and his best friends catch a flight on a bankrupt airline that doesn't go to their actual destination. Meanwhile, Eva gets smashed at a bachelorette party and has an alcoholic black-out, making her prey to a blackmailer who says he has photos of her ill-advised sexual behavior. Will Alex and Eva forgive each other and have a happy ending?
Is It Any Good?
Wedding Games is one of those innocuous, forgettable movies that offers not a single fresh or creative moment. It's based on a one-idea script -- heading to a destination wedding, everyone encounters problems -- and even that can't sustain any character development. Most of this feels like useless filler, making 79 minutes feel ten times as long.
One can see every problem coming, if one wanted to spend the energy giving this froth a moment of thought. Bridesmaids, Palm Springs, The Best Man, and hundreds of other movies have done everything here far better. Every possible tired joke -- about in-laws, wedding dresses, seating plans, decorations, wine selection, catering, desserts, music -- is trotted out, and to the degree that any substantial issue is even explored, it is generally left unresolved. Characters are introduced, as are their problems, and then dropped, undeveloped. The bride's father pines for his divorced wife, the bride's mother, but they never even meet, so why is that fact introduced? Mothers-in-law get drunk together in a scene we've all seen before. Much of the dialogue is, at best, idiotic. Here's one of the film's final pearls: "We can't be ashamed of being happy." Deep, huh? One can feel one's intelligence being sucked away as the words pour forth. This movie is a great argument against destination weddings and the movies about them.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about whether movies that lack fresh ideas can be enjoyable. What do you think?
Many movies are made on similar topics. What are some factors that make one movie entertaining and another disappointing?
Do you think movies about people making bad decisions are fun to watch? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : November 24, 2023
- Cast : Dan Ferreira , Dandara Mariana , Estevam Nabote
- Director : Silvio Guindane
- Inclusion Information : Black Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 79 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : December 8, 2023
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