The Wilde Wedding (starring Glenn Close)

From time to time Amazon recommends films to me, based on what I have previously liked or bought. One such recommendation was ‘The Wilde Wedding’. I assume that’s because this is in the ‘rom-com’ genre and I have enjoyed several films of this kind.

It starts well. The teenage Mackenzie (Grace van Patten) is narrating, and also filming events as her somewhat dysfunctional family members start to arrive for the weekend. She has a good style of delivery, and sets the scene well. She informs us that her grandmother is getting married again, but that she’s absolutely not allowed to refer to her as a grandmother….

Glenn Close stars as Eve Wilde, who is about to get married to her fourth husband, Harold (Patrick Stewart). Her adult children aren’t too sure about this, nor is her favourite ex-husband, Laurence (John Malkovich). But the family, extended family, former family members and friends gradually gather in a huge house where the wedding is to take place.

I found the sheer number of people rather overwhelming; it was hard to keep track of who was whom, as more and more people kept arriving. None of them was particularly memorable. I thought that perhaps this didn’t matter, but then much of the film involves conversations and some rather sordid illicit liaisons. In fact, there’s not much more to the plot which seems to be a farce rather than a comedy, with very little actual romance until towards the end.

The acting was good - and we found ourselves, more than once, reminded of Meryl Streep; Glenn Close is not related to her, as far as we know, but seemed to have her mannerisms and expressions, and even her tone of voice in several places. I don’t know if this was deliberate or not.

But there really isn’t much story. There are a few good lines, and one or two scenes which we found amusing, but on the whole we found it rather trite. We kept watching despite some scenes which we would prefer not to have seen, and, happily, the film was redeemed by the ending.

Perhaps it was trite; perhaps it was predictable. But it was absolutely the right ending, giving a much more positive message than the rest of the film about the importance of friendship and genuine liking and trust in any relationship.

The UK's 15 rating reflects the adult (but not too explicit) nature of the film; the US rates it as R, probably due to the bad language, the sexual content and the use of recreational drugs.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's DVD Reviews