Daughter of the Bride

Kate (Halston Sage) is a cater waiter with no steady boyfriend. She's close to her mother Diane (Marcia Gay Harden), but she dislikes the new boyfriend Bruce (Aidan Quinn) even though she's the one who initially selected him. She almost runs over Josh (Andrew Richardson) and it's love-hate right from the start. At first, I assumed this to be a Hallmark movie and then I noticed the veteran actors. I don't know what this is aiming for. The production is not good enough for a theatrical release, but it should be one based on the actors. The writing is derivative and wrong. I don't understand Kate's issue with Bruce. It would make more sense if she's not the one who sets them up. She could be jealous of Bruce's new relationship with her mother. That would be a fine premise and make Josh be Bruce's son. With that, the story writes itself. The wedding gown has good comedic potential and I would like to see Halston Sage try more physical comedy. This movie is all potential and no execution.

The screen shines. I only watched this because of them. They should have had way more screen time, together and individually. They know how to pull their audience in. I have enjoyed their performances in many a movie over many years. I also enjoyed the supporting cast of Marcia's friends. They were fun. As far as Halston Sage, who plays the daughter goes, I never had heard of her before and would have liked to have kept it that way. An annoying character, performance and actress. The role should have gone to someone who has more experience and made it laughingly fun and not the dull cliche that was Halston Sage. I also blame director, Annette Hayward-Carter for that. I'm glad that I only paid $1.99 + tax for this on Amazon.

It's hard to believe this movie actually got made. There's not an original scene in the entire film, the lead is terrible and the film is shamelessly derivative of other films. Sadly this is the type of movie that needed AI to turn into something watchable. Clearly the producers thought it was enough to have Marcia Gay Harden and Aiden Quinn to prop up this embarrassing excuse for a romantic comedy, but good actors cannot save a script with more holes than a piece of Swiss cheese, along with an awful lead actress, and unimaginative directing. I cannot believe I wasted $3.99 on this. By the way, Hallmark made a movie with the same plot years ago and it's hard to believe the writer so shamelessly copied it, made it worse, and then got it made.

To be fair, my wife and I watched this solely because we by chance saw the trailer and noticed it was filmed in her hometown. We weren't expecting much and sure enough it was a very forgettable rom com. It was like a Hallmark movie with with a slightly bigger budget and far more notable cast. The movie perhaps elicited one genuine chuckle or two, but was otherwise rather unbelievable and often cringey. The cast looked like they were enjoying themselves, so good for them I suppose. When you're an Oscar winner like Marcia Gay Harden, I feel that gives you the right to do whatever the hell you want. Finally, the "Sad Bar" is far more vibrant and well lit in real life as opposed to its depressing depiction in the film, lol.