Betsy's Wedding (1990)

Eddie Hopper (Alan Alda) owns a small construction business. The latest project falls through and he decides to go into debt to finish the house. At a family gathering for grandpa (Joey Bishop)'s birthday, his daughter Betsy (Molly Ringwald) announces her engagement to boyfriend Jake Lovell (Dylan Walsh). They want a small intimate wedding. To his wife Lola (Madeline Kahn)'s dismay, he gets into a competition with Jake's rich corporate raider father and ends up paying for an extravagant wedding. He asks Lola's sister Gloria (Catherine O'Hara)'s sleazy cheating developer husband Oscar Henner (Joe Pesci) for help. Oscar introduces him to mobster-like Georgie (Burt Young) who in exchange for a loan installs his nephew Stevie Dee (Anthony LaPaglia) to manage the home construction. Stevie Dee is taken with the house and Eddie's elder daughter cop Connie (Ally Sheedy). Then there is the wedding with fashion student Betsy's unconventional style and conflicting non-religious sensibility. The shootout doesn't help either.Alan Alda wrote, directed, and starred in this movie. It's not that funny and overloaded with story from every other character. The saving grace is that I like everybody starting with Alda. He has an easy charm and the family has a loving chemistry. The wedding dysfunction works some of the time but it is simply not funny enough. As for the Razzie nominations of Molly Ringwald and Ally Sheedy, I don't get it. Ringwald's character can be a little annoying but that's about it. Sheedy and newcomer LaPaglia are actually endearing together and I love their budding relationship. Somebody at the Razzies must have had it in for this movie.

In a world where brides turn into bridezilla when things don't go exactly as they planned, it's refreshing to see a film about someone who can role with the punches and not take the whole thing too seriously. It's the marriage, not the wedding, that needs people's best efforts. Anthony LaPaglia did a great job, especially when he told his uncle he was going to apply to the police acadamy. It sparked my interest in his other accomplishments and I've be watching for him ever since. Loved the contrasts, even if they were a little exaggerated. Alda and Kahn played great off each other. My favorite lines. Alda: I wanted to give you a wedding you'd never forget. Ringwold (while munching on a piece of pizza) Hmm. I don't think I'll ever forget this. Great family dynamics. An imaginative romp.

Nothing could bring more rivalry between parents and would be in-laws as a wedding. The young couple in this story has more common sense than their elders. They just want a small affair, but then, the parents get involved blowing the whole thing out of proportion. What a terrible waste these things are. After all, most of them would end up in divorce.Alan Alda has written, directed and is one of the stars of "Betsy's Wedding", a film about two different families, one struggling, and the other one rich, whose children are going to marry. The comedy is a bit dated. What starts as a small wedding ends up as an elaborate celebration in a tent in the middle of a rain storm. There are a few laughs in the picture.Best of the whole thing are Ally Sheedy and Anthony LaPaglia who are supposed to be secondary characters. The large cast does what it can with the material they have to play. Alan Alda, Madeline Kahn, Molly Ringwald, Dylan Walsh, Joe Pesci, and Catherine O'Hara are seen as the family members.

"Betsy's Wedding" is absolutely yawn-worthy and I can't imagine how green-lighting this film was ever considered a good idea. The story is so uninteresting and incoherent that it's a total waste of celluloid. Upon excruciating inspection, one might be able to discern that Betsy (Molly Ringwald) is set to be married to a man who comes from money. Betsy's father (Alan Alda) is determined to pay for the wedding and throw an obnoxious display to prove that he can toss cash around with the best of them. What ensues is an agonizing plotline following Alda as considers getting involved with the mob to finance the debacle. As a fan of both Ringwald and Ally Sheedy -who co-stars as Betsy's cop sister- I can't imagine why either one took roles in such a turkey.