You've castrated him! Stick it back on, quick! (The Wedding Planner (DVD))

Member Name: Jess-L

Product:	The Wedding Planner (DVD)
Date:	03/11/03 (101 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not many

Disadvantages: Bland, unmemorable, unfunny

Being a fan of fluffy romantic comedies, I was hoping that The Wedding Planner would be reasonably good. It sounded promising enough, with the DVD proclaiming the film as a 'modern-day fairytale', and describing the chemistry between the two main stars, Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey as 'sizzling'.

The story begins with Mary Fiore, played by Jennifer Lopez, a half-Italian wedding planner, who's life is meticulously mapped out to the very last detail. A workaholic, she throws herself in her career, leaving little time for relationships.

Determined to prove her worth to her boss, Mary takes on a difficult account, on the condition that if the wedding is successful, her boss will give her a share in the company. Fran (Bridget Wilson-Sampras) is a successful businesswoman with a very clear image of how she wants her wedding - Mary isn't looking forward to working with her, but it is the perfect opportunity to show her boss just how dedicated she is.

On her way to a meeting, Mary gets her Gucci shoe stuck in a grate. Naturally, being Gucci, she desperately tries to free her pride and joy, and fails to notice an oncoming car, where the driver is distracted by a melting ice-cream. She is rescued by a handsome doctor named Steve (Matthew McConaughey), and falls head over heels in lust with him.

Unfortunately, Steve turns out to be Fran's fiance, and trying to organise his wedding while keeping her feelings for him under wraps is not an easy task. Even worse, a childhood friend, Massimo, turns up, in the belief that he is engaged to Mary. Her father is delighted that his daughter has found a nice Italian boy to marry, and all out of fight, she can't find the energy to sort out her messy love-life, which unsurprisingly, causes all kinds of confusion.

The Wedding Planner cannot be described as anything but bland. It's adequate, but 'interesting' or 'engaging' is pushing it
a bit! It has its moments, but it is, essentially, a run of the mill chick flick, and although it tries it's best, it doesn't work. The only reason it had the success it did was because of the leading actress, J-Lo.

When you compare it to She's All That, another chick-flick, The Wedding Planner is sadly lacking! Whereas I was watched She's All That from start to finish without any pauses, I watched The Wedding Planner on and off in the space of a few days, and had no particular urge to finish watching it. This isn't helped by the fact that it's incredibly predictable, and you know exactly what is going to happen, without even watching it!

The cast are satisfactory in their roles, but are nothing special. I was expecting Jennifer Lopez to be wooden and well, rubbish, but she was natural enough, although hardly Oscar material. Not with a script like this, anyway! The 'sizzling' chemistry is more lukewarm than anything else, but how hard can it be to fake being in love with someone? She's had enough practise, hasn't she?

Seeing as it's billed as a romantic comedy, you would expect some humour, but the comedy is thin on the ground. There are moments which raise a smile, but mostly, the jokes are embarrassingly unfunny, and you feel uncomfortable for the actors and actresses who have to make these lame jokes, in order to make a living!

I think the film could be vastly improved if they weren't so reliant on Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey. Most films have subplots running throughout the film, but that isn't the case with The Wedding Planner - they seem to be confident enough to think that the viewers will be glued to the screen, soley because of the two high-profile leads.

In all honesty, The Wedding Planner isn't that bad, but it's not that good either! I wouldn't really recommend it unless there's absolutely nothing else available. If you're after
a witty, stylish chick-flick then go for She's All That - it's ten times better than this dire effort.

It is rated PG, and is directed by Adam Shankman, who has an interesting CV! He seems to do a bit of everything, being an actor and choreographer as well as a director. He has also directed A Walk To Remember and Bringing Down The House, and choreographed George Of The Jungle, Inspector Gadget and The Flintstones, and had a bit part on Scream 2. No sly remarks about being associated with films of a rubbish nature, please...

Summary: