Directed By Nicholas Stoller

Starring – Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Geraldine Viswanathan

The Plot – When two weddings are accidentally booked on the same day at the same venue, each bridal party is challenged with preserving their family’s special moment. In a hilarious battle of determination, the father of the bride (Ferrell) and sister of the other bride (Witherspoon) chaotically go head-to-head as they stop at nothing to uphold an unforgettable celebration for their loved ones.

Rated R for adult language throughout and some sexual references.

You’re Cordially Invited – Final Trailer | Prime Video

POSITIVES

The only reason that “You’re Cordially Invited” is even slightly tolerable is because of the impeccable casting of Ferrell, Witherspoon, and a slew of familiar faces in the supporting ensemble that continuously make the most of monotonously dense material, eliciting a couple of meaningful laughs along the way that at least temporarily paid off a nearly two hour investment. While the work of Ferrell and Witherspoon isn’t exactly challenging or reinventive to what we’ve known or expect from these two comedic heavyweights, the respective roles are an opportunity to showcase what is truly special about each of them towards carving out a screen presence made palpably tangible each time they’re present on-screen, with Ferrell’s perfect facial registries and manic deliveries matched by Witherspoon’s fiery freneticism, in order to craft a one-two dynamic that feels like the stirring of combustible elements that explode each time they’re around one another. Each of them display ample energy and investment to the depth of their portrayals that takes the movie seriously, even when everything else is counteracting against those measures, and with breakthrough stars like Viswanathan, Meredith Hagner, Jimmy Tatro, Leanne Morgan, Rory Scovel, and Celia Weston to bounce off of, it doesn’t exactly require the dual protagonists to do the brunt of the movie’s heavy lifting, with an expanding cameo to what feels like every scene that proves the production spent ample money towards assembling a dream team of comedic firepower. Speaking of the production, there’s nothing really special or invigorating about the camera techniques and corresponding cinematography that make up a compelling visual flare for the movie, however I loved the individualized sections of the film divided by on-screen texts that made the audience feel like a guest at these duo of weddings, especially in taking us beat by beat throughout the traditionalism of a typical American wedding. The introduction credits pertaining to the cast being defined by the roles they play in the wedding was a uniquely vintage touch of yesteryear cinema that not only set a precedent for the proceedings to follow, but also effectively servicing a visual tour throughout this gorgeous dominant setting that 90% of the movie took place in, and when combined with the script’s structure receiving an unofficial chaptered format breaking these acts into titles defined by events like “The rehearsal dinner” or “The big day”, effortlessly articulate the meaning and magnitude of this special day made awkward by all of the unpredictable elements that come to define it.

NEGATIVES

The praises stop there for the movie, however, as “You’re Cordially Invited” is another streaming mess made worse by nearly every element of its measurement falling by the wayside of disappointment, particularly the comedic material that does these actors and their audience a grave disservice towards feeling appealing enough to want to spend two hours with. Part of the problem is certainly in the conveniences and exaggerations with the various set-ups, where not a single conversation or conflict feels earnestly believable, but just as grating is this heavy-handed desire to be edgy or adult to cater to its R-rating, with dialogue so forced with expletives and crudeness that it feels written by an angsty teenager who was asked to project their own love story to the characters and predicaments. While I appreciate a movie that makes the conversations feel relatable, with language that reflects the mayhem that transpires with two parties forced to co-exist under one roof for the weekend, the F bombs are dropped aplenty, long before we ever even head to the wedding, and it grows tedious when every other word ratchets the intensity up to eleven, so that there’s nowhere to elevate once the real conflicts of the movie take shape. Because so many of these scenes could use another studio edit, in order to cut down on the evidentially indulging improvisation of actors taking an extended detour towards an effective pay-off, it makes so many of these foundation building interactions feel like long takes belonging on the special features of a home release, with dragged out deliveries that continuously hammer home the intention with the subtlety of a bull in a China shop. If this isn’t enough, the material is quite shameless in the avenues that it chooses to explore with comedic encompassing, with subjects pertaining to incest, woke culture, and one tasteless joke pertaining to Los Angeles fires, that, whether intentional or not towards the current devastation, should’ve been completely omitted from the finished product. In addition to lackluster comedy, this is a movie that thrives on the illogical in order to get to the next set piece, beginning with an initial set-up of this double booked resort that asks audiences to believe that the wedding party nor the resort would call and keep in touch with one another in the months leading to the big day. If that isn’t enough, the script itself brings up the major problem of both of these immense parties staying at this small and claustrophobic resort, with sleeping arrangements making it impossible to house both of them, however it’s merely glanced over and then never addressed again, apparently expanding inexplicably in order to appease even more conveniences towards the film, and it’s the firsts in a laundry list of problematic setups that continuously halted my investment to the engagement, proving the laziest of writing that requires more suspension of disbelief than necessary for your typical romantic comedy. On that very genre categorizing, the film is undoubtedly a comedy, however its romantic hybrid comes from a tacked-on romance to the film’s final ten minutes that is not only unearned from the depths of a script that didn’t take a single solitary second to articulate some kind of romantic connection between Ferrell and Witherspoon’s characters, but also unbelievable from both logical and chemistry perspectives. While these two veterans of the silver screen work terrifically together, with regards to their comedic banter, their romantic spark couldn’t be any colder, and as a result of Hollywood’s ages old desire to hook two people up who simply couldn’t be happy on their own, the film instead opts for the most uncomfortable on-screen kiss that I have witnessed in recent memory, coming at a time when its impact couldn’t be any more of an afterthought, sampling the same kind of obvious predictability that so many of these romantic comedies rarely deviate away from, especially with characters so up front unlikeable that you don’t care what happens to them. Despite the unfiltered charisma of Ferrell and Witherspoon pushing their eccentric personalities to eleven, the script takes some unforgivable steps with their characterization that made it a mountainous task to attach myself to any earned empathy for them, whenever they felt so isolated away from the peers, with nothing in the way of meaningful transformation that redeems them. Ferrell’s strange jealousies towards his daughter’s new beau to be far exceed those of typical father figure protector angles, even going so far as to co-sing “Islands in the Stream”, a song about making love to one another, which never evaded this icky feeling of connection between them, which regardless of the film’s outlining, wasn’t any easier to experience or interpret. As for Witherspoon, her character is downright detestable, ranging anywhere from self-wallowing as this unappreciated victim of a disconnected family, or this upper class snob who ruthlessly steps on anyone or anything, in order to get what she wants. Hers is the most difficult part of believing that any man would want anything to do with her, regardless of Witherspoon’s timeless beauty still radiating as strongly as it ever has, and though these two shallow souls would be better suited together, it’s not the kind of emerging union that makes me roar in triumph, as a result of their annoying personalities, which makes the already tediously taxing and prolonged 111-minute run time feel like you’re attending a wedding in which you don’t know anyone surrounding you.

OVERALL
“You’re Cordially Invited” is another unfortunate invitation to a straight-to-streaming engagement that is better left unattended, with flatly unregistering comedic material and one tacked-on romance that adds nothing integral or meaningful to the romantic comedy genre. Despite this, the film is tolerable as a result of the Herculean efforts of Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon conjuring enough intense energy and screen presence to characters who are otherwise written detestably, and while the film can be watched in the comfort of your own home, the price-free price tag still isn’t worth your time or blessings to see it across the aisle

My Grade: 3.8 or F+