Upon deciding that I really would like to watch a funny movie tonight, I picked a movie that has sat on my instant queue since the dawn of instant queue. A little odd looking romcom with Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher which was written and directed by Michael Ian Black. Now, in my dim non film snob world, that sounds like a fun movie.
But take away Michael Ian Black’s dead pan face and winningly sarcastic tone and put the exact characters from American Pie and Wedding Crashers respectively and tada- you have Wedding Daze. Originally titled The First Girl I See- its basic premise is man loves woman. Man proposes to woman. Woman dies of shock. Man meets new woman. Man proposes on whim to New Woman. New Woman accepts on whim. Complications ensue.
So actually, not basic at all. And throw in some characters that escaped from I <3 the 80’s and you wonder what exactly you’re watching. Is it possible to look across a crowded diner and find true love? And even if they have horrible morning breath and are grubby and drive you nuts- you still like them? And even if you’re crazed, bipolar, and going nowhere, they like you back?
This movie sure seems to think so. Which is sweet and nice but we don’t really buy it. We want to buy it. We really do. But the rest of the ensemble includes carnie friends, a used car salesman best friend, nymphomaniac groom’s parents and an unhappy mother living with a stepdad who wears a Jew cap and invented the jewnicorn- a brand of stuffed animals aimed at Jewish children. And whose real dad is currently serving time for something he obviously has no regrets over.
Add the two random dream sequences of the dead could-have-been fiancée had she only managed to choke out an answer (which is by the far the most interesting part of the movie- did she or didn’t she?) and the recent ex, William, who had proposed to Fisher’s waitress Katie the night before- and some cops and this movie decides to skid right by romantic comedy and go right into slapstick circus town.
Not that the Soviet Russian carnie doesn’t have some great lines (“I like your Jew Cap”) and the actor playing the dumped William having an absolute blast with what could easily have been the worst role….but really…wouldn’t you drop dead if the handsome waiter and you hit it off only to be proposed to by the endearing but odd guy you’re dating who came dressed as cupid in women’s underwear?
Come on, wouldn’t you at least think about it?
Now, Black uses flashbacks, flash forwards, and montages liberally and actually does have some endearing group moments which reveal a cast that actually shared some decent chemistry. While American Pie and Wedding Crasher make you squirm with their awkward ramblings- intentional- they also have quiet moments of sincerity- revealing perhaps the reason these two actors are still drawing a crowd. I would actually have liked more of their quiet intensity and magnetism as opposed to the slapstick humor that seems to always get the other one injured in some manner.
But Biggs does have the gawky single mess of a man down to a science and Fisher is effortlessly adorable and yet still sexy so that you don’t even notice her bray of a laugh. (Side note: she’s married to a comedian- how does that laugh not bother him??)
So, yes I prefer the original title, yes I’m not sure what exactly Black thought was funny while writing this, and yes, how did he manage to get such big name actors to actually do this- but then there’s simple odd moments that win you over despite yourself. Kind of like the way fate seems to have taken a hand in the main relationship- even though all you want to do is look away- you can’t help but hope this is possible. That you can find random love in the oddest place and instead of worry about if they are a potential serial killer- just worry about what side of the bed you’re going to have for the rest of your life or how they like their eggs.
But once again, a small role steals every scene- and this is no real spoiler- the ex who explains his attack on Biggs as simply “exacting my vengeance!” and demonstrating the ease of performing the charade of the Apple Dumpling Gang before falling in love with my second favorite character- the little cop who happily advices “Don’t Stop Believin’!” in complete seriousness- is all I’ll really remember.
So, I want you all to stop worrying about why Will is hugging the cop and worry more about when we all stopped believing…because we did. We stopped believing we could find true love and started worrying about why that person isn’t “right” for us. And by doing that, we never stop to think about what right really means anymore.
Wedding Daze asks us a simple question: Why Not?
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