There is really nothing that is not completely predictable about Amazon Prime Video‘s latest big budget romantic comedy, but with Reese Witherspoon back in the genre, and Will Ferrell doing what he does best, the chemistry is there, and so are some laughs, including a real LOL moment involving Ferrell and an uncooperative alligator that is a good reason comedies should probably best be seen with a crowd. Unfortunately, despite its stars and fan-friendly genre, this one is straight to streaming. At least in a Valentine’s Day period, You’re Cordially Invited qualifies more appropriately as a far more pleasant date movie than the horror and action Valentine’s movie the studios have planned this year. It isn’t going to make you forget My Best Friend’s Wedding, Bridesmaids and Father Of The Bride anytime soon, but it’ll do, even as the ‘R’ rating here seems a little harsh.
The premise is simple, and writer/director Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him To The Greek) is skilled enough to basically take it from the setup and let his stars do their thing. Set at the picturesque Lake Oconee, 75 miles east of Atlanta, the location oozes old world charm. The Palmetto Inn, however, can only accommodate one wedding per weekend, and through happenstance, two weddings get accidentally booked with no one, including hotel clerk Leslie (Jack McBrayer in the Paul Lynde role), realizing it until both Margot (WItherspoon), determined to throw the perfect wedding for beloved sister Neve (Meredith Hagner), and Jim (Ferrell) also set to give daughter Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan), who he brought up alone after the death of his wife, a perfect wedding even if he finds it hard letting go and thinks they she is too young. Both show up at the front desk at the same time, but when it is discovered Margot’s credit card was the only deposit, she gets preference. However after a few hours, she takes pity on Jim and his clan, agreeing to share the space with the gorgeous boat dock on the lake serving as the anchor for both weddings, which are timed to take place before sundown.
Of course it isn’t all that easy when Jim overhears Margot telling her family some bad things about his family, and so he sets a bit of revenge in motion that causes Jenni’s wedding to go overtime, and then a bit more that careens out of control when Margot’s whole wedding plan winds up in the water when the dock sinks with everyone on it. It all goes back and forth as misunderstandings and hijinks abound, but never so over the top we lose the human element.
Ferrell invests Jim with a genuine love and camaraderie for his only daughter, demonstrated as the pair perform ‘Islands in the Stream’ together karaoke-style when a rain outburst forces both parties inside the lodge. He isn’t thrilled with Oliver (Stony Blyden), Jenni’s dim fiancee, but he wants her to be happy, even when he almost screws up the whole thing. Witherspoon is a bit of an outcast in her very southern family as she went off to L.A. and became a successful reality show producer, the rest of the clan remaining tight in Atlanta. She is largely estranged from her stern mother (a terrific Celia Weston), the family’s uncompromising matriarch and mother of four, including another sister, Gwyneth (comedian Leanne Morgan with spot-on deadpan comic timing) and distant brother Colton (Rory Scovel). You can cut the tension with a knife, but as these things go, both Jim and Margot not only are trying to pull off perfect weddings that go sideways, they also are learning much about their own family dynamic, and yes, in a plot development that is almost guaranteed in this kind of rom-com, a budding relationship for themselves.
There are lots of complications, plus that alligator, and a very funny bridesmaid turn by Keyla Monterrose Kejia. I saw it at a commercial theater at the press screening, and when I was leaving, that theater’s manager told me he thought this should have been released theatrically. It should have, but it ought to clean up on Amazon’s global streaming platform, which is par for the course for most traditional romantic-comedies these days. Still, with Witherspoon and Ferrell in top form, You’re Cordially Invited reminds you this is the kind of fun comedy theaters were once made for.
Producers are Stoller, Conor Welch, Witherspoon, Lauren Neustadter, Ferrell, and Jessica Elbaum.
Title: You’re Cordially Invited
Distributor: Prime Video
Release Date: Steaming now on Amazon
Director-Screenwriter: Nicholas Stoller
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, Geraldine Viswanathan, Merdith Hagner, Jimmy Tatro, Stony Blyden, Leanne Morgan, Jack McBrayer, Rory Scovel, Keyla Monterroso Kejia, Ramona Young, Celia Weston, Fortune Feimster
Rating: R
Running Time: 1 hr and 49 min
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