Another Kind of Wedding (2017)

Directed by: Pat Kiely | 83 minutes | comedy, drama | Actors: Kathleen Turner, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Jessica Paré, Wallace Shawn, Kevin Zegers, Frances Fisher, Luke Kirby, Cristina Rosato, Jacob Tierney, Kalinka Petrie, Nathaly Thibault, David La Haye, Arthur Holden, Albert Kwan

When the eldest son of a “problem family” wants to get married, the whole family reunites after a long time. The family ties that have come under considerable fire over the years are still not in order. There is a lot of back and forth during the run-up to the wedding, which even the wedding plans are in jeopardy.

‘Another Kind of Wedding’ is a movie with a large cast and the story is told from different points of view. There are plenty of successful examples where this has great added value, but that formula doesn’t seem to work with this film. The entire movie is unwatchable. It takes a long time before you realize exactly who is who and what everyone wants. Why someone wants something is still not clear at the end of the film for some characters. It is even difficult to remember all the names of the characters and that should not be a problem even with a large cast in an “ensemble movie”. The motives are often very strange, so you can’t empathize with the characters and you don’t get any sympathy for any character at all. This is a real shame and, in combination with the not fantastic game, even causes irritation.

‘Another Kind of Wedding’ is meant to be humorous, but this film doesn’t seem to succeed in that either. Because the motivations of the characters are so vague and sometimes fall from the sky, the humor does not arouse either. Some images are potentially quite funny, but these promises are never fulfilled. This is a missed opportunity and even makes the film very uncomfortable at times.

What also stands out are the chosen camera angles. A number of atmospheric images of the surroundings of the hotel are quite nice. During the dialogue, sometimes less good choices seem to have been made. For example, sometimes a part of a head falls away on the edge, or disappears into the back of a chair. This distracts from the dialogue and from the game.

‘Another Kind of Wedding’ misses the mark on every level. The humor doesn’t work and the characters are very unclear and unbelievable.