License to Wed
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Movie Reviews of License to Wed
Movie Review: Very Funny
Summary: 4 Stars
I thought that this movie was adorable. It's not Oscar-worthy, but it's not supposed to be. Anyone who gives this movie a "terrible" rating was expecting too much. Overall, I found it to be very funny!Movie Review: A light, fun, silly, insightful movie
Summary: 4 Stars
Watch it with your friends after your engagement, or with the girls at the bridal shower. Its a little silly , but I laughed out loud and found it insightful as well.Movie Review: Total mindless fun
Summary: 4 Stars
Very funny and John Krasinski and Mandy Moore work well together as the couple. Would never win an Oscar but I really enjoyed it.Movie Review: "Who says the class is over?"
Summary: 3 Stars
When Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore) and Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) tie the knot, Sadie chooses to get married at her hometown church of St. Augustine's. The problem is St. Augustine's only has one wedding slot available in the next two years, and Reverend Frank (Robin Williams) won't bless their union until they pass his patented, foolproof marriage-prep course. That includes no sex, care of robot babies, and plenty more hijinks.
"License to Wed" is a curious little oddity. Before veering into cliched rom-com territory, director Ken Kwapis (who helmed a few episodes of "The Office") manages to pull some funny, if not gutbusting, tricks out of his hat. While some scenes could've been eliminated, most of the time I had a ball. I wouldn't call this the funniest comedy of the year ("Hot Fuzz" and "Knocked Up" both hold the torch), but the charisma of its leads make the film moderately watchable.
Kwapis hits the jackpot on a couple of scenes, though with the film being a little crooked at times, he sometimes gets off lucky. There's quite a number of co-stars from "The Office" to point out, and the one who gets the most laughs comes from Brian Baumgartner (aka Kevin Malone). He's not in his A game, but he manages to make some scenes moderately entertaining, whether it's fighting with Rachael Harris (who deserves alot more screen time than she has) or shaking his funky side with Krasinski.
Of course, there are times where the film drops the ball big time. The robot babies might have looked cute on paper, but when the script calls for them to squirt blue goo (don't ask), have a crying meltdown, or lose their head in an accident (for a movie as charming and madcap as it is, this comes off rather disturbing than funny), maybe screenwriters Kim Barker and Vincent Di Meglio (as well as two others) should've pressed for something other than that. There are also some other scenes that I forget that should've been deleted, since they made no sense. And all Kwapis has Josh Fitter (who I heard did a better job in "Nancy Drew") do is rehash cliched smarty-pants kid stereotypes that, thankfully, don't hog the screen.
Then there's the last act. Kwapis did a moderately decent job, even if he has some questionable material, but then he moves into conventional rom-com territory where Ben and Sadie have to break up. That wouldn't have mattered, however, if the script didn't call for Robin Williams to enter dramatic mode and have his character recall what happened to his wife that sets a dark cloud over a project that's nothing but slapstick hijinks.
As I said, the charisma and sweetness of the performers (especially Mandy Moore, who at least makes an effort to act, unlike her pop-star-turned-actress competition that includes Jessica Simpson) make the stuff at least work. John Krasinski is the weakest link, even if he does get a couple of laughs. The problem is that, in this film, whatever comic timing he has is squashed with odd facial gestures (especially involving the robot twins) or attempts to outfunny Robin Williams (who easily gets the upper hand). Plus, I wished Kwapis could give his other performers chances to crack through the barriers (talent like DeRay Davis and Christina Taylor are on autopilot, and Nicole Randall Johnson is limited to cameo status, tying Arden Myrin as another "MadTV" cast member making the worst theatrical career moves ever).
Hey, I'll take comic Robin Williams over serious Robin Williams (that includes "Patch Adams" and "Bicentennial Man") anyday. His performance, along with Mandy Moore, makes the film a decent enough concoction for consumption. I just wished the movie was funnier, though.
Movie Review: Better than I thought it would be
Summary: 3 Stars
As a big fan of The Office on NBC, I was interested in seeing Lisence to Wed, where John Krasisnki would play the leading man opposite Mandy Moore. This film was released right during blockbuster season in the summer of 2007, had poor reviews, and generally didn't find an audience. Robin Williams (who is somewhat low key in this movie) and his over-acting might have been part of the turn off, as well as the ridiculous preview. After watching the movie, I recommend it because I laughed several times in spite of its numerous flaws.
Ben (Krasinski) and Sadie (Moore) live together. After Ben proposes, Sadie insists they go through a marriage preparation course given by Pastor Frank (Williams), her childhood pastor. The previews hint at all the ridiculous steps that Frank makes the couple go through. This is where the movie might lose you. The steps are utterly preposterous and unrealistic. And only Ben seems to question Frank's tactics. After Father Frank almost destroys their relationship, no one bothers to think that Frank might be the problem.
This movie has several laughs and a lot of stapstick comedy. Is it really a positive to say a movie wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be? Anyway, Office fans should enjoy this harmless comedy in spite of its faults. For those curious, it does contain some bad language and humor some might find sacreligious.