Gwen Hughes is a seasoned writer and the Editor-in-Chief at Madison Park Living magazine. When she is not working, she enjoys reading short stories, quoting John Mulaney Netflix specials, and eating family-size boxes of Mott’s Fruit Snacks.
Love, Wedding, Repeat (2020) is a Netflix ensemble rom com set in beautiful Rome at the wedding of Haley and Roberto. Jack (Sam Claflin), the brother of the bride, is stunned to find out that both his ex and his dream girl, Dina (Olivia Munn), will be in attendance. The bigger issue for Haley is that her druggie ex-boyfriend shows up to the festivities to profess his love for her.
Naturally, she enlists big brother Jack to spike her druggie ex’s drink with some of her sleep medication. But Jack spikes the wrong glass and the “man of honor,” Brian, is dead weight on Haley’s big day.
We’re supposed to be rooting for Jack and Dina. And we do. Two gorgeous people with adorable banter who have obviously caught feelings for each other. Unfortunately, we don’t get to know them before the wedding. Without this foundation, it’s hard to root for them in the same way we root for, say, Harry and Sally.
The ensemble is filled out with a bumbling cast of characters including Sydney, a kilt-clad insurance worker with no social skills, and Chaz, the new boyfriend of Jack’s ex, who is intent on sparring with Jack the whole day.
The acting is great. Starring roles and bit parts are played by talented actors, many of whom are also professional comedians. Among the favorites are Irish comedian Aisling Bea and English writer and comedian Tim Key. Both have romantic side stories that get almost as much camera time as the starring couple.
The wedding is quite stressful; not even the bride can enjoy her big day. While the filmmaker was likely going for a “comedy of errors,” he missed the mark a bit, making the wedding an uncomfortable encounter for guests and Netflix audiences alike.
A “butterfly effect” theme, which has us relive parts of this chaotic wedding, provides some redemption, but you’ll have a hard time shaking off that first awkward iteration.
Good actors. Beautiful scenery. The bones of a funny wedding story. Love, Wedding, Repeat was aiming to be the next Notting Hill or Four Weddings, but, sadly, falls short of being a new classic.
(Now streaming on Netflix)
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Gwen Hughes is a seasoned writer and the Editor-in-Chief at Madison Park Living magazine. When she is not working, she enjoys reading short stories, quoting John Mulaney Netflix specials, and eating family-size boxes of Mott’s Fruit Snacks.
Finding Your Feet tells the story of Lady Sandra Abbott (Imelda Staunton), a posh housewife who discovers her husband is having an affair and is forced to seek refuge with her eccentric older sister, Biff (Celia Imrie). Biff takes Sandra under her colorful wing and introduces her to the close-knit group of pals that take dance classes at the local community center. At first, Sandra is stiff and inconsiderate. She struggles in Biff’s hoarder-style apartment in a dodgy part of London, where door locks remain broken and Biff routinely leaves her cell phone in the dryer.
But after a stern talking to from her older sis, a surprise night in jail, and a flirtation with the truly adorable Timothy Spall, Sandra begins to accept her fate as her sister’s helpless charge by making herself useful around the house and dancing every Thursday evening. This isn’t Sandra’s first time on the dance floor, however. She was a competitive ballroom dancer as a child, and Biff has home movies to prove it.
Of course, that was “a lifetime ago.” When fellow community center dancer (Joanna Lumley) suggests an outdoor dance fundraiser in downtown London, everyone volunteers except Sandra, who is still working on sloughing off her hardened exterior. Give her a few minutes…
Time to suspend your disbelief: a video of the dance immediately goes viral and the troupe is flown to Rome to perform in variety show with stunningly high production values. If you weren’t already experiencing wanderlust from the beautiful sequences of Big Ben, you will be now. The body count is high in this “comedy,” and deaths run the gamut: from a jovial side character conking out during a striptease to a more intense Stage 4 storyline—the filmmakers don’t spare us. Having made us fall in love with this ragtag group of seniors and then slowly ripping our hearts out, it would seem rude if it weren’t so downright charming.
This film will make you fall in love, strike a pose, and say goodbye. A big melting pot of joy and heartache. But isn’t that life?
(Now streaming on Hulu)
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Gwen Hughes is a seasoned writer and the Editor-in-Chief at Madison Park Living magazine. When she is not working, she enjoys reading short stories, quoting John Mulaney Netflix specials, and eating family-size boxes of Mott’s Fruit Snacks.
Splatter: on FILM 