Wedding Bros – The Marconi Bros. (2008)

Directed by: Michael Canzoniero, Marco Ricci | 88 minutes | drama, comedy | Actors: Brendan Sexton III, Dan Fogler, Steven Randazzo, Nicholas De Cegli, Kelly-Ann Tursi, Marcia Jean Kurtz, George Morfogen, Ray Iannicelli, Diane Canzoniero, Kate Gersten, Jon Polito, Zoe Lister Jones, Patti D’Arbanville, Allen Warnock, Melanie Angelina Maras

Two single young men at a wedding where they don’t know anyone, but above all they enjoy participating. Where have we seen that before? The subtitle of ‘Wedding Bros’ is therefore not unambiguously chosen: “The original wedding crashers”. It’s a clear reference to the hit comedy “Wedding Crashers” from 2005 starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. The tone has been set and expectations are high.

‘Wedding Bros’ tells the story of two brothers, Anthony (Brendan Sexton III) and Carmine (Dan Fogler) Marconi. They work in the family’s carpeting company and thus lay carpet. When the brothers end up in Lou’s large, luxurious house, they find his recording equipment and a lot of films in the basement. The good man makes wedding films and it has done him no harm. For the brothers, it starts with an idea to shoot a commercial for the carpet business, but they soon leave the family business to join Lou and enter the wonderful world of wedding cinema.

Reportedly, one of the lead actors, Brendan Sexton, spent three days laying carpet in preparation for his role. Of course you want to portray your role as convincingly as possible. The problem with ‘Wedding Bros’ is not just whether credible carpet is actually being laid; those three days could have been better spent writing the script and coming up with good jokes. ‘Wedding Bros’ misses the mark on all fronts. The comedy duo Sexton and Fogler is not likeable or funny. That goes for all characters, by the way. The story is very uninspired. Just like the characters: not funny, sympathetic or believable. In addition, the time frame that is portrayed in the film does not make sense. One moment it’s on VHS, the next you see a Porsche Cayenne drive by.

This is a movie that just doesn’t want to be funny and is a far cry from a movie like ‘Wedding Crashers’. Tastes differ, but it is unimaginable that someone is being favored by this.