Shotgun Wedding parents guide

Shotgun Wedding Parent Guide

Undecided as to whether it's a serious action flick or a zany comedy, this film only manages to be a confused mess.

Overall D+

Amazon: A destination wedding takes an unexpected turn when the wedding guests are taken hostage by criminals and the bride and groom come to the rescue.

Release date January 27, 2023

Violence C
Sexual Content C
Profanity D
Substance Use B

Why is Shotgun Wedding rated R? The MPAA rated Shotgun Wedding R for language and some violence/bloody images.

Run Time: 100 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom (Josh Duhamel) are a day away from getting married at a lavish private island in the Philippines when they both start to get cold feet. To make thing worse, their ceremony is hijacked by pirates and their families and friends are taken hostage. Desperate to rescue their loved ones, Darcy and Tom set out to save their wedding - and their relationship.

I’ve noticed a trend lately of movies that seem to have been made just to spawn a fun trailer. The trailer has a few great laughs and some fun action, so you expect the film to be the same, but as the runtime ticks on you realize you’ve already seen all the good parts. That’s what Shotgun Wedding is. I do recommend the trailer, but once you’ve seen that there’s no need to waste the extra 98 minutes.

That’s not to say this film is completely bad: there just isn’t enough good stuff to fill the time. The cast is superb, and they do a lot of heavy lifting with a mediocre script. I don’t think Jennifer Lopez is a particularly good actress at the best of times, but her charisma and charm are palpable in every frame, greatly elevating the watchability of this movie. It probably goes without saying, but Jennifer Coolidge is an absolute delight, and I would have happily watched her read the phonebook for an hour rather than this incoherent mess of a story. She gets the only good laughs in the whole production, which makes me wonder if she was going off script.

Outside of the bright spots in the cast, the film can’t seem to decide if it wants to be a serious action flick or a zany comedy. And so, it fails at both. It is neither fun nor funny, and the level of violence makes it hard to imagine that the writers were going for a lighthearted romp. If the creators had really leaned into the comedy and camp, this could have been a homerun, but instead they took themselves far too seriously, resulting in a tonal mess.

With the high levels of violence and language, Shotgun Wedding is not an appropriate choice for most audiences. I would say that Jennifer Coolidge fans could just skip around and only watch the scenes she’s in and have a great time, but I can’t imagine anyone else being able to say the same. This is not a film to which I would say “I do”.

Directed by Jason Moore. Starring Jennifer Lopez, Josh Duhamel, Lenny Kravitz. Running time: 100 minutes. Theatrical release January 27, 2023. Updated

Watch the trailer for Shotgun Wedding

Shotgun Wedding
Rating & Content Info

Why is Shotgun Wedding rated R? Shotgun Wedding is rated R by the MPAA for language and some violence/bloody images.

Violence:   There are high levels of violence throughout, including the use of guns, grenades, and knives. People are killed on screen in various ways, with some visible blood and gore.
Sexual Content: There is some innuendo and mild sexual discussions. A woman asks a man to have sex with her and strips down to her underwear. They kiss but don’t go any further.
Profanity: The script contains around sixteen extreme expletives, some in a sexual context, along with twenty-five mild and moderate expletives and thirty uses of terms of deity.
Alcohol / Drug Use: There are scenes of adult social drinking. There is one scene where someone smokes a cigarette.

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Shotgun Wedding Parents' Guide

Why is Darcy having doubts about getting married and why is Tom throwing himself into wedding planning? What do they learn about each other as they start to communicate their feelings more?

Home Video

Related home video titles:

For jungle adventure and romance with lower levels of violence you can try The Lost City. This screwball comedy stars Sandra Bullock as an author who gets abducted and is rescued by her books’ cover model, played by Channing Tatum.

For more romantic comedies starring Jennifer Lopez, you can watch Marry Me, Maid in Manhattan, The Wedding Planner, or Second Act.

Josh Duhamel’s roles also take a romantic turn in When in Rome, New Year’s Eve, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, The Lost Husband, and Safe Haven.