wedding films – NZ Film Freak

Here is the sequel to my first post, Top 10 Best Wedding Films.

This post only has five films because it was torture watching them all and I simply couldn’t continue with it. But I could imagine that License to Wed, The Big Wedding, Made of Honor and numerous other cheap Hollywood flops would be on this list if I had the strength to watch them.

So here are a few to avoid because of either their lack of entertainment or because they bring your worst wedding nightmares to life:

Father of the Bride (1991)
This film is not recommended as it’s likely to be your worst nightmare too. From the perspective of a soon-to-be bride, Father of the Bride becomes a terrifying movie. As parents of the bride, George (Steve Martin) and his wife Nina (Dianne Keaton) pay for the entire wedding, but the cost of 500+ guests threatens debt and money troubles for the modest Banks family. I hate the thought of taking advantage of my parents like this. The final scene is heartbreaking too.

Runaway Bride (1999)
Not only is Julia Roberts’s character Maggie highly unlikable, it’s also a repeatable storyline that feels like it’s never going to end. It’s boring, slow and feels like the story is on a loop: she gets engaged, plans a wedding, gets to the aisle and runs. She gets engaged, plans a wedding, gets to the aisle and runs… This happens six times. It’s exhausting.

I Give it a Year (2013)
I wouldn’t recommend seeing this film if you’re about to get married because it’s essentially about a couple who realise they made a mistake marrying each other. After they try to make it work, they soon cheat on each other. I Give it a Year keeps it light and funny despite the themes of temptation and regret. Nevertheless, it was a bit of a downer.

Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)
While I always said ‘I don’t like this movie’, it wasn’t until I watched it recently that I realised I’d never seen it before in my life – I was confusing it with Death at a Funeral. Nevertheless, while I appreciate Four Weddings and a Funeral is a favourite among many, I can confidently confirm that I do not like this film either. It is so boring. It’s pointless. There are too many characters. Hugh Grant’s character has a crush on Andie MacDowell’s character who has slept with half the world’s population, which she brags about and consequently makes her unlikable. There are so many things I don’t like about this film and for once, Hugh Grant is the least of them.

The Five-Year Engagement (2012)
This was the worst film I have seen in so long. I’m so disappointed because I adore Emily Blunt. But it was so depressing. It was about a couple, Tom and Violet (Jason Segel and Emily Blunt) who both had opportunities to pursue their dream careers at opposite ends of the country. Tom gives up his career and moves from San Francisco to Boston for his fiancee, but he soon resents her for it. As if that’s not horrible enough, they both cheat on each other and break up. Brilliant. Just what you want to watch before your big day.

Now you know what wedding films not to see, here are the wedding films that you should: Top 10: Best Wedding Films. Don’t forget that Prince Harry’s and Meghan Markle’s Royal Wedding is this Saturday (19 May)!

As I am in the wedding spirit, I decided to indulge in some wedding films. But which ones are worth watching, and which ones are simply too cringe? As it turns out, most of them aren’t worth watching.

With intentions to watch every wedding film in the movie industry, I unfortunately failed after seeing five wedding film fails in a row. It was torture. So instead of my original idea of writing a wedding film directory, it has now been split into two posts:

Top 10 best wedding films, and Top 5 worst wedding films. (I couldn’t endure watching anymore bad movies, hence the shorter list.)

So here we go, welcome to the land of Jennifer Lopez and Julia Roberts. Here are the wedding movies that I say ‘I do!’ to:

Bridesmaids (2011)
The best wedding film, not to mention best comedy of all time. I can not stop watching this movie. Everything that could go wrong does go wrong in the lead up to Lillian’s (Maya Rudolpf) wedding, mostly at the expense of poor Annie (Kirsten Wiig), Lillian’s best friend. It is absolutely hilarious and a movie you could watch on repeat. Forever.

The Wedding Singer (1998)
One of my favourite comedies of all time with a brilliant soundtrack! Don’t let Adam Sandler put you off either, this is one of his few good films. It’s about a hopeless romantic Robbie (Adam Sandler) who is a wedding singer. But after his bride-to-be ditches him on his wedding day, he falls into a downward spiral. Meanwhile, Julia (Drew Barrymore) is looking for a wedding singer for her upcoming wedding and befriends Robbie in his time of need.

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997)
This is such a scandalous film actually. Probably a bit underrated. Unlike most rom-coms, the protagonist (Julia Roberts) is the baddie! Trying to break up her best friend’s wedding so that she can confess her love to him. It’s quite an exciting film.

Bride Wars (2009)
Sassy, catty and shrew! Bride Wars is about two best friends (Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson) who are both desperate for the same venue. The claws soon come out and the cracks begin to show in their friendship. It’s an easy watch and I love the vengefulness of the bridezillas.

Wedding Crashers (2005)
While it’s crudely about John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) crashing random weddings to get lucky, it’s certainly a very funny film once everyone’s put their boobs away. What begins as just another wedding to find a fling, ends with John developing a genuine crush on Maid of Honour Claire (Rachel McAdams). Meanwhile, Jeremy is trying to convince John to escape the wedding early as Claire’s wildly intense and immature sister Gloria (Isla Fisher) forms a strong attachment to Jeremy.

The Proposal (2009)
The Proposal is about a successful book editor Margaret (Sandra Bullock) is no longer able to work at her job in the USA because she’s Canadian. However, she manipulate her secretary Andrew (Ryan Reynolds) into marrying her so that she can keep her job. However, if Andrew’s going to get married, he’s determined to do it on his terms – she must meet the parents. It’s nice to see a female protagonist in a strong role, but imagine if the gender roles were reversed. Could you imagine the backlash?

The Wedding Planner (2001)
Revenge is served cold. Or in this case, rather sweetly. The Wedding Planner is about J-Lo’s character Mary who finds herself as the wedding planner of the man she’s been dating (Matthew McConaughey). He’s been cheating on her this whole time, but she doesn’t let the bride-to-be know and continues with the wedding plans, taking every opportunity to embarrass the groom-to-be.

27 Dresses (2008)
I’m not totally in love with Katherine Heigl, so I would prefer it if a different actor played her part, but it’s an enjoyable enough film anyway. It’s about always being the bridesmaid and never the bride. It’s a fun and easy watch for sure.

My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)
I refreshed my memory of this film recently, and I have to say that while it is quite funny, I’m not really sure what the storyline even is. There’s no ‘absolute low’, or major conflict that the hero has to bounce back from. It’s quite a dry story, really. But it is funny in a lot of scenes.

Monster in Law (2005)
Monster in Law is about an over-bearing mother in-law who tries to break her son and his fiancee (Jennifer Lopez) up. But the mother in-law is so over theatrical that it’s quite difficult to watch without cringing. J-Lo is an odd choice, but it stars Wanda Sykes so that makes up for it. It’s a tad too Americanny for my taste really, but it’s pretty funny anyway.

Keep an eye-out for the sequel to this post – Top 5 Worst Wedding Films.

Don’t forget that Prince Harry’s and Meghan Markle’s Royal Wedding is this Saturday (19 May)!

Tag Archives: wedding films

Top 5: Worst Wedding Films

Top 10: Best Wedding Films