Saturday, March 13, 2010
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME
Saturday, March 13, 2010
MOVIE REVIEW
Our Family Wedding
Not So Funny Family Follies
Lance Gross and America Ferreira star in the comedy film
"Our Family Wedding", which opened yesterday in the U.S. and Canada. The
film is directed by Rick Famuyiwa.
Fox Searchlight
By
Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
FOLLOW
Saturday, March 13, 2010
From the files of "what on earth is going on here?", Rick Famuyiwa's "Our Family
Wedding" plays as a deplorable 90 minutes of caricature and self-loathing, and
it doesn't let up. Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia play rival
in-laws-to-be in a worse-than-screwball comedy that is more a horror than a
circus -- although it's that too.
Marcus (Lance Gross) and Lucia (America Ferreira) prepare for their wedding but
the mantra is "our marriage, their wedding", so naturally wedding planning
caters to the in-laws' specifications of Marcus's and Lucia's special day.
In the process everyone -- with the possible exception of Mr. Gross and Miss
Ferreira -- shucks and jives their way through this 21st century minstrel show,
ala Tracy Morgan in the insanely bad "Cop Out". I counted the number of
times a different actor bared his or her teeth in exaggeration here, and I
registered six hits on the pathetic scale.
The scenes are crafted as an excuse to flaunt racist stereotypes. As
written by Wayne Conley, Malcolm Spellman and the director -- all
African-Americans, to my knowledge -- "Our Family Wedding" is supposed to be a
vehicle for fun but instead is an engine for failure, a runaway Toyota that just
keeps speeding to new lows (or high speeds.) At times it's patently
unsightly.
Among other things, there's a biting cynicism that absolutely cripples any hope
of enjoying Mr. Famuyiwa's film. The characters aren't smart people, nor
are the situations they find themselves in. Frankly, some of the scenes
remind you of the kind of chaos chimpanzees engage in. I've not been more
despairing this year about a film aside from one, which I've already referred to
here. (The "Death At A Funeral" remake opens next month, and I'm holding
my breath. But should I?) Moreover, it is truly sad that a black
director (or any director) feels it necessary to take on this movie
assignment, or worse yet, create it.
Just as sad is that there's so much great talent here. The elephant in the
room of reason says that the paycheck motivated the participation of this
eclectic and talented group of people aforementioned and listed at the end of
this review, but "Our Family Wedding" reminds us in brutally painful ways that
money buys failure as much as it does success.
With: Regina King, Lupe Ontiveros, Diana-Maria Riva, Anjelah Johnson, Charles
Murphy, Taye Diggs, Shannyn Sossamon, Anna Maria Horsford, Tonita Castro,
Caroline Aaron, Warren Sapp, Sy Richardson, Noel Gugliemi.
"Our Family Wedding" is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture
Association Of America for some sexual content and brief strong language.
The film's duration is one hour and 30 minutes.
FOLLOW
Read more movie reviews and stories from Omar
here.
Read Omar's "Far-Flung Correspondent" reports for America's pre-eminent Film
Critic Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times -
here
SUBSCRIBE TO THE POPCORN REEL MOVIE
REVIEWS RSS FEED
PHOTOS |
COMING SOON|
EXAMINER.COM FILM ARTICLES
||HOME