The Wedding Planner
2001
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Justin Chambers, Kathy Najimy, Bridgette Wilson, Kevin Pollak, Fred Willard
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $94 million
Plot: A wedding planner whose singular dedication to her work has kept her from finding the man of her dreams. When she finally meets ''Mr Right'', he turns out to be the groom from one of her upcoming weddings
'Drab Rom-Com Best Left At The Altar'
This early 2000s romantic comedy was directed by Adam Shankman (Bringing Down The House, Hairspray, Rock of Ages) and was produced with the help of Meg Ryan and Peter Abrams, of whom the latter gave us Point Break, Wedding Crashers, another rom-com in Serendipity and Old Dogs. The plot also draws similarities to My Best Friend's Wedding starring Julia Roberts; if you have seen that film, then, well, The Wedding Planner is pretty much in the same vein, as far as plot goes. But it lacks that film's charm and, but for say J-Lo/McConaughey's characters', the remaining characters don't amount to much & the story is feebly executed.
Jennifer Lopez, - a Hispanic - plays a wedding planner, Mary whose character is of Italian descent and her career is on the up, yet she is unable to find the perfect guy. Her father desperately wants her to tie the knot, he even goes to lengths to set her up with an Italian guy, much to her displeasure. One day, she bumps into a medic in Steve (Matthew McConaughey) & Mary becomes attracted to him. However, the following day, she is stunned to learn that the wedding she is planning turns out to be for Steve & Fran's (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), with Fran being his fiance and bride & wife- to- be.
Much like with many of these types of films, but for the romance part, the reason why most of these movies aren't great or good, is because the story doesn't hold up to the end and the pairing of Steve and Mary doesn't heat up. The last 20 mins or so felt so implausible with a plot twist that was so left-field, it didn't make a lick of sense as to why Steve did what he'd done. The script was the one and major hurdle the film couldn't get over, and not once was there a major revelation or huge plot twist that truly made The Wedding Planner a good rom-com. McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez tried, but their onscreen efforts were clearly stifled by then (and still are to this day) first-time writers Pamela Falk and Michael Ellis's generic and vapid screenplay that falls short.
Part- My Best Friends Wedding, part - Runaway Bride, its execution, like so many other films of this type is bland, atypical and so predictable it doesn't do enough to keep me glued throughout, let alone to separate itself from the pack. Yet also, this film is proof that even with the casting of Jennifer Lopez, who at best is competent, and Matthew McConaughey, if the romance element especially doesn't come through, many of these romantic comedies and dramas are a bust. Which The Wedding Planner is.
Chemistry is also key in romantic comedies, and I suppose that even with a weak script, some of these films manage to get away with it, due to the casting of the two leads. J-Lo and McConaughey, on the other hand, is sadly an exception. Their romance is so underdeveloped, but also there were no signs throughout that convinced me that they deserved to be together. Shankman, Falk and Ellis all fumbled with the execution, as tamed it was and is, that in the end, their characters' journey from A to B, storywise, was a waste of time. Adam Shankman's directorial debut turns out to be ill-advised, and as such, he isn't able to manage to get the best out of Lopez and McConaughey.
Final Verdict:
As the film went on and on, the sooner I lost interest and that I didn't care what actually happened. I switched off altogether. When you have a movie, and also a romantic comedy that does that, you can sense how you will feel about it in the end.
Had the story been better developed and more was added to the mix, we or I could have viewed this offering as a pleasant but also lively affair. By the halfway mark or 20 mins after, boredom seeped in, there were no major twists or surprises thrown in and with that, The Wedding Planner played things too safe, that it made for a boring (& forgettable) rom-com that is not up to par with My Best Friend's Wedding.
Overall:
2001
Cast: Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Justin Chambers, Kathy Najimy, Bridgette Wilson, Kevin Pollak, Fred Willard
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Worldwide Box Office Gross: over $94 million
Plot: A wedding planner whose singular dedication to her work has kept her from finding the man of her dreams. When she finally meets ''Mr Right'', he turns out to be the groom from one of her upcoming weddings
'Drab Rom-Com Best Left At The Altar'
This early 2000s romantic comedy was directed by Adam Shankman (Bringing Down The House, Hairspray, Rock of Ages) and was produced with the help of Meg Ryan and Peter Abrams, of whom the latter gave us Point Break, Wedding Crashers, another rom-com in Serendipity and Old Dogs. The plot also draws similarities to My Best Friend's Wedding starring Julia Roberts; if you have seen that film, then, well, The Wedding Planner is pretty much in the same vein, as far as plot goes. But it lacks that film's charm and, but for say J-Lo/McConaughey's characters', the remaining characters don't amount to much & the story is feebly executed.
Jennifer Lopez, - a Hispanic - plays a wedding planner, Mary whose character is of Italian descent and her career is on the up, yet she is unable to find the perfect guy. Her father desperately wants her to tie the knot, he even goes to lengths to set her up with an Italian guy, much to her displeasure. One day, she bumps into a medic in Steve (Matthew McConaughey) & Mary becomes attracted to him. However, the following day, she is stunned to learn that the wedding she is planning turns out to be for Steve & Fran's (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), with Fran being his fiance and bride & wife- to- be.
Much like with many of these types of films, but for the romance part, the reason why most of these movies aren't great or good, is because the story doesn't hold up to the end and the pairing of Steve and Mary doesn't heat up. The last 20 mins or so felt so implausible with a plot twist that was so left-field, it didn't make a lick of sense as to why Steve did what he'd done. The script was the one and major hurdle the film couldn't get over, and not once was there a major revelation or huge plot twist that truly made The Wedding Planner a good rom-com. McConaughey and Jennifer Lopez tried, but their onscreen efforts were clearly stifled by then (and still are to this day) first-time writers Pamela Falk and Michael Ellis's generic and vapid screenplay that falls short.
Part- My Best Friends Wedding, part - Runaway Bride, its execution, like so many other films of this type is bland, atypical and so predictable it doesn't do enough to keep me glued throughout, let alone to separate itself from the pack. Yet also, this film is proof that even with the casting of Jennifer Lopez, who at best is competent, and Matthew McConaughey, if the romance element especially doesn't come through, many of these romantic comedies and dramas are a bust. Which The Wedding Planner is.
Chemistry is also key in romantic comedies, and I suppose that even with a weak script, some of these films manage to get away with it, due to the casting of the two leads. J-Lo and McConaughey, on the other hand, is sadly an exception. Their romance is so underdeveloped, but also there were no signs throughout that convinced me that they deserved to be together. Shankman, Falk and Ellis all fumbled with the execution, as tamed it was and is, that in the end, their characters' journey from A to B, storywise, was a waste of time. Adam Shankman's directorial debut turns out to be ill-advised, and as such, he isn't able to manage to get the best out of Lopez and McConaughey.
Final Verdict:
As the film went on and on, the sooner I lost interest and that I didn't care what actually happened. I switched off altogether. When you have a movie, and also a romantic comedy that does that, you can sense how you will feel about it in the end.
Had the story been better developed and more was added to the mix, we or I could have viewed this offering as a pleasant but also lively affair. By the halfway mark or 20 mins after, boredom seeped in, there were no major twists or surprises thrown in and with that, The Wedding Planner played things too safe, that it made for a boring (& forgettable) rom-com that is not up to par with My Best Friend's Wedding.
Overall:
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