Father of the Bride (2022) | Film Review

 

The Steve Martin 'Father of the Bride' movies are two of my favourite films of all time, so it took me a while to watch the remake, mainly because I was sceptical about whether it could come close. But I was interested to see how the story would be updated.

A father (Andy Garcia) must deal with his daughter's (Adria Arjona) upcoming wedding, and all the family drama that comes along with it.

This was an okay movie, but definitely not a patch on the one that came before it.

Speaking of the Steve Martin version, because of that one, I went into this one expecting it to be a similarly-themed comedy. The tone of this film is very different. There are a lot more moments of drama, and a lot less laughs.

I found it really interesting that the film had the parent's marital issues running alongside the main plot, to the point where the parents' marriage was more of a plot point than the actual marriage that the film was about. In fact, the actual wedding felt like the least important part of the film.

Some of the 'modern' references, particularly those written for the wedding planner (played by Chloe Fineman) felt a bit forced and out of place.

The 3rd-act conflict felt silly, and was clearly only used to create drama, as opposed to making sense with the plot.

Overall, the film was a bit slow, a bit boring, and a little bit longer than it needed to be. It was an okay movie, but it doesn't really have a lot to offer. It tries to be new and original, but in doing that, it loses the things that made the other versions special.

4/10