Love, Weddings, and Other Disasters Parent Guide

Watching Love, Weddings & Other Disasters left me with one burning question: How did A-list actors like Jeremy Irons and Dianne Keaton wind up in this dumpster fire?

That’s not the only question that arises from this movie. Other queries include “Why did anyone think it was ok to use blindness and dwarfism as comic fodder?” “Why would someone write a script that chains reality show contestants together?” “Who decided that these fake Russian accents were funny?” “Why didn’t anyone try to write a cohesive script instead of a jumble of plotlines?”

Love, Weddings & Other Disasters is an ensemble romantic comedy which, as soon as it manages to build up some comic energy…zip, it’s moved on to the next story arc. The movie begins amusingly enough – Jessie (Maggie Grace) pushes her reluctant boyfriend Perry (David Bernon) out of a plane when he’s having second thoughts about skydiving. When his ripcord breaks, Jessie comes to the rescue, holding on to him as her parachute opens. As the couple drifts down to earth, Perry breaks up with Jessie and insists that she get him back to earth as quickly as possible. Noting that they aren’t too far above a lake, Jessie obliges and drops him in the water before she drifts off course, landing on a dock and sweeping a wedding party into the water.

The movie then whips to the next set of characters – Captain Ritchie (Andrew Bachelor), amphibious boat tour guide and the passenger he falls in love with. Before that story gels, we’ve moved on to Lawrence (Jeremy Irons), a perfectionist wedding planner, who has just been set up on a blind date with Sara (Diane Keaton), a blind photographer. Wait – there’s more: don’t forget the musician (Diego Boneta) who has a crush on Jessie, his band mate (Jesse McCartney) who’s making plans with his girlfriend (Jin-Joo Lee), the mayoral candidate (Dennis Staroselsky) who’s getting married, and his brother (Andy Goldenberg) who is appearing on a reality dating show that has him chained to a Russian lawyer who turns out to be a stripper (Melinda Hill). Sound like a lot? It is. And since most of it isn’t funny there’s not a lot of motivation to plow through the criss-crossing plotlines.

A bigger deterrent than narrative overkill is crude content. The story about the Russian stripper features multiple moments of sexual innuendo and her occupation is seen as entertaining. Having her chained to her fellow contestant, forcing the couple to sleep together and even go to the bathroom together is demeaning and not amusing.

As the movie weaves between its many plotlines, musical interludes are used to smooth transitions. As the singer speculates in one of her songs, “Maybe this thin ice is thick enough for two” – a question that fits this film. It is certainly on thin ice and no, its flat characters and sporadic comedy can’t carry two stories, let alone the many others that are increasing the cracks in its foundation.