The Decoy Bride (David Tennant, Kelly Macdonald, Alice Eve)

(Amazon UK link)

Browsing on Amazon last year, I spotted this DVD in my ‘recommendations’. I assume it was because David Tennant is in one of the main roles, as I knew nothing about either of the other two co-stars. The blurb made it sound interesting, in the light rom-com genre that we enjoy for a relaxing evening in, so it went on my wishlist. I was given it last Christmas, and we watched it last night with our son and a visiting friend.

The story starts with a society wedding that doesn’t go ahead, due to intrusive journalists and photographers. David Tennant is the hopeful groom: he plays the role of an English writer called James, who is engaged to Lara (Alice Eve). She is one of the world’s most desirable and well-known American movie stars.

Lara is quite hot-tempered and wants their wedding to be private, so the wedding planners decide to move the location to Hegg, a (fictional) little-known island in the Hebrides. James has written a long book, supposedly based on Hegg, which makes it sound a lot more appealing than it really is.

Meanwhile on Hegg, we meet Katie, the one unmarried young woman in a population of 75. She has suffered more than one disappointment in love, and has decided to give up on relationships. She has been living elsewhere but has returned to look after her terminally ill mother whose one wish is to travel the world…

Inevitably there are clashes of culture between the gentle Hebrideans and the wealthy, fast-moving wedding party. There are misunderstandings and mistakes which make this gently amusing in places, surprisingly poignant in others. The location is lovely. It's entirely believable as a cold Northern island, although apparently the filming was mainly done in the Isle of Man.

The plot itself becomes a bit unlikely, as Lara goes into hiding and the wedding planners decide to use a ‘decoy’ bride to fool the journalists. They, inevitably, learn about the wedding and arrive in their droves. However, the sequences that follow, without Lara involved, are thoughtfully done with quite a spark of chemistry becoming apparent.

It’s not deep or thought-provoking, other than, perhaps, the glimpse into the lives of the famous that shows how very intrusive and painful media interest can be. But it’s a good story and made an excellent light evening’s watching which we all enjoyed. The ending is, perhaps, a bit too abrupt, but overall we thought it a pleasant film.

It's rated 12 (12A in the US) which seems about right; there are some minor instances of bad language as well as references to ‘adult’ topics; however, there’s no nudity, only mild violence, and nothing explicit. It’s not a storyline that is likely to appeal to anyone under the age of about 14 or 15 in any case.

Recommended. There are no extras on our DVD at all.

Review copyright 2015 Sue's DVD Reviews