Last Wedding (2001)

"Noah! Open this (bleeping) door!" Bang! Bang! Bang! "I just want to talk!" The sound of her fists against the door echo through the courtyard like small arms fire. Cowering inside the motel room Noah (Ben Ratner) can only hope Zipporah (Frida Betrani) will go away if he remains absolutely still. No such luck. Peering through the drapes he watches in horror as she walks back from her car with a tire jack in one hand and fire in her eye. Obviously this marriage is in trouble. It began so well, too, with Noah, a salesman for a waterproofing company and Zipporah, an aspiring (and, unfortunately for her, supremely untalented) country singer, gazing into each other's eyes while the rabbi pronounced them man and wife. A few months later the marriage has sprung more leaks than the condo they share in metro Vancouver. Noah's buddies are heading for problems as well. Can Lit prof Peter (Tom Scholte) is cheating on his sedate librarian wife Leslie (Nancy Sivak) with provocative young student Laurel (Marya Delver). Struggling architect Shane (Vincent Gale) feels threatened because his newly graduated girlfriend, Sarah (Molly Parker), also an architect, has landed a job with a high profile firm. Hip, literate and darkly funny, this 2001 entry is the third film from Vancouver writer/director Bruce Sweeney. Sweeney uses the predicaments of his characters to show how relationships among today's affluent young urbanites can crumble under the stress and pressure of modern life, especially if they are not built on a strong foundation to begin with. Lack of communication, sexual betrayal, career envy, Sweeney dissects them all with savage wit and savvy insight. The director allows his cast ample freedom to explore and develop their roles and he is repaid with characters which behave as if they were modelled on real people rather than broadly drawn stereotypes. Parker and Gale won Genie Awards (the Canadian Oscars). However, the whole cast is worthy of merit with Betrani a force of nature as frustrated country singer Zipporah. (With her temperament perhaps she should have considered a career in heavy metal instead.) This is one of those rare movies in which Vancouver gets a chance to play itself. The dialogue is peppered with local references (the Cambie St. bridge, the old Expo 86 site, provincial politics). What Woody Allen does for New York Sweeney does for Vancouver. Twenty years in B.C. have given the Sarnia, Ontario native a feel for the quirky vibe of West Coast life (The movie also resembles an Allen film in the depiction of its male characters as vain, indecisive wimps who bend like willows in the wind while trying to hold their own with strong, purposeful women.) Last Wedding is full of randy humour and a decidedly unromantic view of sex. The scene in which Laurel and Peter discuss Canadian authors while engaged in a dispassionate sexual act is rumoured to be a favourite in certain academic circles.

Despite the fact I volunteered for 2 weeks on this shoot in some rather sweltering Vancouver weather and that none of the volunteers was invited to the Vancouver premiere and that I actually paid money to rent this title and that not one of the volunteers was ever mentioned in the credits...the movie was yet another awful example of why Canadian cinema continues to fail.I had no sympathy or connection with any of the characters in this film. The dialogue was trite and vacuous. The acting did nothing to correct this. And Molly Parker's performances continue to be flatter than a pre-Columbus Earth.A complete waste of film stock.

I watched this film last night. I liked it very much. 'Last Wedding' tells the story of the three couples and the problems they confront. The problems, all serious, range from miscommunication, physical and emotional abuse, professional conflicts to cheating. But I have to say that some people seem to be confused by the title of the film and think that all the main characters are married. That is not the case. As a matter of fact, only one of the couples is married. The other two live together.The main reason why I decided to write about this film is that I was really surprised for one or two of comments I've read here. The main couple, the one we met since the start of the film, and the one that gets married, is the protagonist of a real messy relationship. After only six months of meeting each other, Noah (Benjamin Ratner) and Zipporah (Frida Betrani) decide to get married. They do it but things don't go well since the beginning. Noah doesn't know it but her wife wants to make it as a professional singer but apparently she doesn't have enough talent. So, she stays home with nothing more to do than watch TV. She doesn't confide in her husband whom she doesn't even let enter to her music room. Noah, on her part, is falling apart. He always had doubts about the wedding but he kept it going. But, after the wedding, he's devastated. His wife won't talk to him. And then the violence comes. In one very poignant scene, the telephone rings, Noah asks Zipporah to answer it, she ignores him even though she has the phone at her side. Noah loses it and breaks one of the ceramic horses figures that Zipporah collects. How does she reacts? She takes the phone and hits one of Noah's ears with it. It wasn't the first time we saw a violent Zipporah but until that point we've never seen her actually hitting her husband. After that, Noah tries to discuss her relationship with Zipporah but she refuses. She thinks everything is all right. One particular interesting detail is that all the times Zipporah realizes she has messed it up, she tries to seduce Noah. At the beginning of their relationship, that would work. Zipporah would lose it and then have incredible sex with Noah and things would go back to normal. But of course , that wouldn't work forever. Noah gives it up and takes every opportunity he has to humiliate Zipporah for her singing skills (she hits him again after that one) and her lack of formal preparation. So, to sum it up, this couple's relationship terribly SUCKS.I decided to write so much about Noah and Zipporah because some people here have written that this couple was the funniest one. But I am sure that if instead of Zipporah, Noah would've been the one who physically abused his wife, nobody would dare to say that it was funny. Oh, yeah, this husband hits her wife, develops an abusive relationship with her, and every time he does hit her, he brings flowers... oh, yeah, VERY funny. No, it isn't. Hey, I know this movie is supposed to be a comedy and it is, but I can't accept that what it makes it funny is a gender bias. Men cannot be abused. If they are, it's funny. No, it's not funny. I felt bad not only for Noah but also for Zipporah.The other two couples face difficult problems also. College professor Peter (Tom Scholte) cheats on Leslie (Nancy Sivak) with a student. Arquitect Shane (Vincent Gale) seems unable to cope with his girlfriend Sarah's (Molly Parkers)sudden success. We don't get to explore these two couples very much. For example, I was confused with what were the real roots of Shane's discomfort. Was it because he was experiencing professional jealousy of his girlfriend? Or was it because they had really different perspectives of how architects should work? Anyway, the lack of information doesn't stop us from getting their conflicts.The main asset of this film is that it rings real. Watching the film makes you promise not to make the same mistakes of the characters. "Get to know each other well before marriage" "Listen to each other" "Don't cheat" "Respect each other's interests" are some of the tips.

Last Wedding is a character driven piece with intriguing little peeks into the inner workings of people as they make their way through life.Though sometimes the scenes begin to drag a little they then catch their breath and come back to life again. It's a good movie for a rainy day. This movie explores the many tangled emotions that throw even the most confident bride and bridegroom into panic. And then there's life after the honeymoon. Whether you are about to be married, newly married or celebrating your 50th anniversary you'll find something that rings a bell of familiarity.The abrupt ending, as previously mentioned, was a little disappointing but I'm sure we'll be seeing more of Benjamin Ratner and the rest of the cast.