The Wedding Video (2014)

This film serves as an excellent reminder that some people simply do not understand comedy. What dull lives they must lead.When you are criticising the cinematography and acting of a film which is deliberately designed to seem like something shot on a camcorder by an amateur I feel you have just totally missed the point. What were you expecting? Overacting nonsense and wildly exaggerated characters as the stars all via for Oscar nominations? Dramatic sweeping shots of the American plains which last ten minutes and establish nothing more than a willingness to fall asleep? The fact that the three hour yawn fest that was 'There Will Be Blood' can be critically acclaimed whilst a genuinely funny film with a lot of charm and character can be slated is everything that is wrong with film these days. Everything that is wrong with the world frankly.This film is simply fun. It is enjoyable to watch, entertaining and there are some good laughs to be had. The end is even oddly poignant.Why do people always have to delve headfirst into stuff looking for contrived meaning and commentary on modern society? Wait... I should probably read my own review back right?

Rufus Hound plays the bohemian of the two brothers in this comedy. He travels home six weeks before his brothers wedding and has a surprise for him, he's going to video the events before the wedding to give to him as a wedding gift.What Hound doesn't know is that his brother is getting married to a girl at school who was a tear away and a pretty wild child back then. She is now prim and proper and very wealthy thanks to her mothers marriage.The thing is, the more Hound spends time with her, the more his feelings grow for her...I like Hound. When he's in it, he's the best thing about the awful Celebrity Juice, and he's quite funny. The same thing goes for Webb. He's great in Peep Show and HIGNFY, so this should have been a throwaway romp with a lot of laughs.It isn't, and it doesn't provide any laughs. And. The main reason? Because everyone is so nice and the only reason what Punch and Hound grow feelings for each other is because half of the time they are together they are drunk.The supporting cast are your bunch of perfunctory middle class English people you see in every sitcom, the neurotic wedding planner, the comedy vicar, the wannabe posh parents, and the hilarious grandmother played by someone famous.All here present and bland.But Lucy Punch is brilliant as usual and is the best thing here, and it appears that everyone is put into the shade when she's on screen.It's predictable, and we have the cringeworthy scenes, that are not so anymore, because you can see them coming from a mile off.To be honest, the trailers looked good, but don't give in for the rom com thing, its really awfully bland...

After their parents died, Raif (Rufus Hound) went travelling while more staid Tim (Robert Webb) remained at home and settled into a conventional life. Tim is now about to marry Saskia (Lucy Punch) and Raif has returned to be best man. He also has in mind compiling a fly-on-the-wall video of the events leading up to and including the wedding. That's the plot. There's more to it than that, of course - Saskia has a past as a wilful teenager, Tim gets more uptight as time goes on, Saskia's family as nouveau riche and her mother (Harriet Walter) is set on outdoing all the other nouveaux riches, and so on.My early thoughts were that this didn't really belong on the cinema screen. With a cast mostly known for TV work, it had a feel of a long episode from a sitcom. But, as it went on I warmed to it more, and I ended up enjoying it a great deal. In fact, I laughed often and heartily (there is a dance sequence which is laugh out loud funny).The characters are all likable, which helps (even Robert Webb's Tim, saddled with an uptight anal-retentive character who folds his dirty washing before putting it in the laundry basket, is essentially a good, likable person). The events stay within the boundaries of credibility, the plot is satisfactory (if somewhat glib towards the end), and there is some excellent acting, particularly from Harriet Walter and Lucy Punch. Lucy Punch has a happy knack of being attractive, sexy, and funny, all at the same time.The fly on the wall home video motif is well sustained for most of the film but falls to bits towards the end, where a scene in a field has multiple camera angles.This is a small film, but one which I found much more rewarding than I expected to.

I seldom leave cinemas feeling angry, but this film was so awful I wanted my money back. I sat through the whole mess hoping at some stage it would improve. It didn't. If anything it became more tedious and totally laugh free. How this got a budget to be made beggars belief. The plot of the movie had promise. Then the film began. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves. It really is that dreadful. Avoid like the plague. Utter utter rubbish. Save yourself the pain and just watch any home video of a wedding and you will get more laughs, a better plot, superior acting and you won't feel cheated. I would have given it no stars if I could. It doesn't even deserve one.