"The Wedding Singer" Sings a Familiar Tune by Homer Yen (c) 1998
Meet Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler), a cloyingly good-natured man. He is the typical small-town boy with small dreams. He wants to settle down in his hometown and marry his high school sweetheart. Once a lead singer for his garage rock band, he now works as a wedding singer. He possesses charm and knows how to put a positive spin on any festive occasion...that is until he is left standing alone at the altar.
He is now miserable and vents his frustration at wedding guests by lamenting about life and singing songs like "Love Stinks". But he does find comfort with Julia (Drew Barrymore), a waitress that works at the reception hall where he sings. Julia's life, however, is equally miserable. Engaged to a wealthy but low-life jerk that seems more interested in himself, she questions whether he's the 'one'. Eventually, their misery brings them together and then...well, you know.
But their path to happiness (and ours) is not without a few obstacles. Robbie's financee wants another chance. Julia's mother doesn't want her to marry a wedding singer. Julia's sister becomes attracted to him. Conversations are misconstrued. And the scriptwriter goes to great pains to keep them apart. We know that they'll get together long before they finally realize that they're even attracted to one another. In fact, it's my guess that the movie bigwigs knew that there wasn't much meat in this movie. So, to compensate, they added another comical element, where the story is set in the '80s and ample opportunities are created to poke fun at this era.
For example, one of Robbie's band members dresses like Boy George; one of Robbie's friends wears the trademark red, leather jacket and white glove like Michael Jackson. And there are allusions to the future which elicited a few chuckles. At one point, a women looks at Robbie and Julia and says, "I can just tell when people will be together forever...just like Donald and Ivana; Burt and Loni." There's even a cameo by Billy Idol.
But whether you like this movie or not will depend on two things. The first is whether you like Adam Sandler. As a comedian and jokester, he's fun to watch. But he doesn't show the heft here to be a leading man. Drew Barrymore is levels above him. She is a delight to watch, but you begin to wonder what she's doing with a wedding singer...or what she's even doing in this movie. The second is whether you're a child of the 80s. If you are, then you can appreciate some of the cultural humor and the all-80s soundtrack. If you aren't, then this won't be a very pleasant experience. I, however, am a child of the 80s and thoroughly enjoyed Barrymore's performance. "The Wedding Singer" was flat some of the times, but at other times, managed to hit the right notes.
Grade: C+
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