Confetti (2006)

Directed by: Debbie Isitt | 95 minutes | comedy, romance | Actors: Martin Freeman, Jessica Hynes, Stephen Mangan, Meredith MacNeill, Robert Webb, Olivia Colman, Vincent Franklin, Jason Watkins, Felicity Montagu, Jimmy Carr, Alison Steadman, Marc Wootton, Sarah Hadland, Ron Cook, Julia Davis, Selina Cadell, Caroline Reid, Nickolas Grace, Phil Nichol, Mark Heap, Jesus de Miguel, Kate Smallwood, Roberto Viel, James Aldridge, Drew Pearce, Pete Gofton, Chris Bourn, Rob Talsma, Ian Adams, Barbara J. Hunt, Helen Ryan, Nigel Burford Christopher Proctor, Jimmy Jerman

The mockumentary ‘Confetti’ is aimed at the public that wonders why people put their lives on sale in shows on television. Nowadays it seems that everything is broadcast on TV, from childbirth to renovations (both of houses and people…). Weddings have also been very hot as the subject of a show for some time now. “There’s a movie in there,” thought British Debbie Isitt, and she’s right. There is even a very good movie in it, but unfortunately ‘Confetti’ just didn’t make it. Isitt only wrote the concept for the film, brought in a number of talented actors, each of whom has already earned their spurs in the profession, and then left things alone. The actors were allowed to improvise and that sometimes results in nice incidents and dialogues, but those moments are too sparse to justify the label comedy.

The three couples selected by bridal magazine Confetti are doing everything they can to win. So a lot is at stake. Not only do they appear on the cover of the monthly magazine, the winning couple can also move into a new house. Confetti has hired a pair of wedding planners, Archie and Gregory (Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins), to assist each of the three couples in making their dream come true. They provide quite a bit of humor in the film with their panic attacks. The loveliest couple is Matt and Sam (Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson). They want a ceremony with a thirties musical touch. Problem is, the two absolutely cannot sing.

However, the couple in love desperately needs the grand prize, as Matt’s relationship with Sam’s meddling mother, with whom they live, is at odds. The second set consists of the avid tennis players Josef (Stephen Mangan ) and Isabelle (Meredith MacNeill), who are now well past their peak and have to contend with a thinned social network. “Where are your friends?” one of the wedding planners wonders. “We do have friends,” the pair defend, “but the money to bring her family over from Canada was spent on her rhinoplasty.” Funny to see that the two wedding planners eventually participate in the wedding as a filler. In this the tennis theme is carried so far that it causes disbelief and bursts of laughter. Finally, the third couple, Michael (Robert Webb) and Joanna, want a naturist wedding. He is a convinced naturist and lets his pants down all the time. At first this creates comical situations, but the joke is stretched too long. Joanna has not been naturist for very long, and is having a bit more trouble with the concept behind their wedding. Excellent acting by Olivia Colman, who cleverly displays the despair of her character.

The film follows the developments from the pre-selection up to and including the Big Day. Timestamps between the chapters indicate how many days until the wedding day (all three couples get married on the same day). Other than that, not much happens in the film, which lasts only 95 minutes, but still drags on here and there. The wedding ceremonies themselves are even a bit moving, especially those of Michael and Joanna work on the emotions of the viewer. It seems as if the makers wanted to put a little feel good in the film at the end. The stories of the three bridal couples-to-be are elaborated too differently in depth and the attention is unevenly distributed. As a result, the outcome of the match does not come as a surprise. Too bad, if Isitt had used her talents a little more to refine the screenplay, a better movie would probably have been rolled out than ‘Confetti’ ended up being.