The Wedding Singer (1998)
Director: Frank Coraci Cast: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Christine Taylor, Matthew Glave, Allen Covert, Angela Featherstone, Steve Buscemi Rated PG-13: Language, adult themes
by Nathaniel R. Atcheson (nate@pyramid.net)
I think that any competent member of the human race who's ever seen a movie--any movie--could probably predict just about every turn in The Wedding Singer. Even though I try very hard to not predict films as I'm watching them (especially not romantic comedies), the plot of this particular film just advanced before me seconds, and sometimes minutes, before I actually saw it happen on screen. But I don't care. Not even a little. My reasons for this are simple: 1) Adam Sandler is great. 2) Drew Barrymore is great. 3) The movie is so funny. There are parts that left me gasping for air because I was laughing so hard. I haven't laughed this hard in a movie since Austin Powers.
Sandler plays Robby Hart, a wedding singer who once had dreams of being in a rock band and writing his own music. In the opening scenes, he seems like a happy-go-lucky wedding singer, at least partially enjoying his profession and doing a rather good job of talking down a really drunk individual (Steve Buscemi) who decides that his brother's wedding is a good place to tell the whole world that his life, up to that point, was utter pointlessness.
A week later, at his own wedding, he is left standing at the altar by his ex-fiancée, Linda (Angela Featherstone). With his life in complete disarray, he meets Julia (Barrymore), a waitress. She is engaged to Glenn (Matthew Glave), and is to marry him in about three months. Julia and Robby become good friends when she enlists him to help with the wedding plans. Soon (and predictably) it becomes pretty clear that Glenn is a jerk, and that Robby and Julia really love each other.
Oh sure, it's trite. And if anyone making this film expected us to, like, feel suspense or something while watching The Wedding Singer, then they truly underestimated their audience. What makes the story bearable, aside from the terrific costumes and 80s music, are the performances. Barrymore is simply adorable here (I've never seen her look so close to the way she did in ET). Not only is she pleasant to look at, but her acting job here really is a good one--and it doesn't hurt that the character is likable and adequately well-written. And the Jerk, played in full-force by Graves, is just as despicable as any villain in any romantic comedy I've ever seen.
Naturally, the true star here is Sandler. I think the guy is flat-out hilarious. He can say something that just isn't funny, and his delivery makes me laugh. His comedic performance here equals that of Happy Gilmore, but in this film he goes much further and proves to me that he can, indeed, hold his own as a leading man in a romantic comedy. Whereas his roles in his previous films kind of had Sandler playing Sandler, The Wedding Singer gives him a character that, for the first time, he actually has to fit into. As far as I'm concerned he succeeded, and this film is testimony that he does, in fact, have some range in his talents.
And the movie is just so funny. Perhaps the best moment is when he sings a song for Julia that he claims is a little uneven because he began writing it while in a good mood and finished it after his fiancée abandoned him. This is the part that literally had me groping for a breath of air. And while the film, like all romantic comedies, takes a hiatus from laughs towards the end because the plot has to finish up, there are more than enough truly hilarious moments in the first hour that make up for any slumps in progress during the second half.
My formal complaints for The Wedding Singer aren't very important. The film is predicable, but who cares? The characters are extremely likable, the movie is ridiculously funny, and the experience is simply enjoyable. In addition to this, I can't imagine anyone seeing the preview and not wanting to see the film. In that order, I conclude that it is pointless for me to even have written this review. I just want everyone to know that I laughed. A lot.
>From 0-10: 7 Grade: B
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Nathaniel R. Atcheson
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