Throwback Thursdays- Movie Weddings-The Wedding Singer (1998), The Wedding Planner (2001) & The Wedding Date (2005)

A wedding is a lovely thing. Two people coming together to make a public commitment to each other in front of their family and friends.  But a wedding is complicated and full of drama.

In 1998, Adam Sandler jumped from his previous man child comedic role to a rom-com leading man in The Wedding Singer. Robbie (Sandler) sings at weddings for a living. Julia (Drew Barrymore) is a waitress at one of the halls where Robbie is singing with his band.  They are both engaged to other people, but find that they are attracted to each other.

I like this movie. It is a typical rom-com, but it is not bland, boring or as predictable as rom-coms generally go. It is sweet and funny and enjoyable.

Three years later, Jennifer Lopez broke into the wedding rom-com genre with The Wedding Planner (2001). Mary (Lopez) is one of San Fransisco’s premiere wedding planners.  Mary’s new assignment is the wedding of Steve (Matthew McConauhey) and Fran (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras).  But this assignment becomes complicated when Mary and Steve begin to develop feelings for each other.

It is a typical wedding rom-com. While it is very well done, there is nothing stand out about it.

Finally, in 2005, The Wedding Date was released. Kat (Debra Messing) is heading to her younger sister’s wedding. Her ex-fiance is in the wedding party. She hires Nick (Dermot Mulroney), a male escort to be her “boyfriend” for the weekend. What starts out as a simple decoy to fool her family becomes something completely different.

Debra Messing is one of my favorite actresses and a great comedic talent. But she is nearly wasted as a performer in this movie while Mulroney as the stock rom-com leading man, is not all that interesting.

Do I recommend them? I recommend the Wedding Singer, but not the Wedding Planner or The Wedding Date.

Throwback Thursday-TV Edition-The Nanny (1993)

Life can be very interesting sometimes. We think we are down for the count, but then an opportunity appears and we take it, not knowing what will happen.

In The Nanny (1993), Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) has been dumped by her boyfriend and has lost her job. In an effort to earn a living, she sells makeup door to door. She knocks on the door of Maxwell Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy), a British widowed Broadway producer with three growing children. Believed to be on of the applicants who is looking to work for Mr. Sheffield as his children’s nanny, she takes on the position of raising her charges in a world that is not her own.

Fran is crass, outspoken, likes her hair big, her skirts small and raised in a Jewish family from Flushing. Maxwell is from the upper classes of Britain who is proper, controlled and respectable. While the basis of the story can be found in The Sound Of Music, there are also elements of I Love Lucy. But Fran also has a big heart and loves her charges as if they were her own.

Do I recommend it?  It’s not Shakespeare, but it’s nice way to unwind at the end of the day.

Throwback Thursday-Slightly Sexist Movies Marketed To Men That Secretly Appeal To Women- The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005) & Wedding Crashers (2005)

To anyone who goes to the movies, its quite obvious that a majority of lead characters are often male and women are sometimes portrayed solely as sex objects.

But some of these movies have a secret. While they appear to only attract male moviegoers, there is something about the plot that brings in female moviegoers.

In a romantic comedy or drama, we have become used to the plot line of the sexually inexperienced female and her sexually experienced male counterpart. In 2005, this idea was flipped on it’s ear in The 40 Year Old Virgin. Andy (Steve Carell) has dated a little, but has never had complete sexual relations with a woman. Egged on by his friends to finally do the deed, he goes to the traditional places to meet women, but nothing really happens until he meets Trish (Catherine Keener). Trish is a single mother with three kids. Andy and Trish fall for each other, but he has yet to tell her his secret.

What I like about this movie is that despite some sexist overtones, it is incredibly funny. I also love the idea of the man who has little sexual experience and the woman who has been around the block a few times. Steve Carell is on point as a man who is withdrawn and shy and because of that, his love life is completely different than his peers.

In Wedding Crashers, (2005) John (Owen Wilson) and Jeremy (Vince Vaughn) don’t use the usual haunts to meet women. They crash weddings, pretending to be guests. All is well until they crash the wedding of the daughter of Treasury Secretary William Cleary (Christopher Walken) and target two of the Secretary’s daughters, who are bridesmaids, Claire (Rachel McAdams) and Gloria (Isla Fisher). John falls for Claire while Jeremy attempts to seduce Gloria and finds that she is more than his match.

While this movie is incredibly crass and sexist at certain moments, it has a charm to it.  John and Claire’s relationship is sweet while Jeremy and Gloria balance out the sweetness with comedy perfection.

I recommend both.