Last Wedding

If the British Columbia film industry has any doubts, I'd say that Last Wedding is a good reason to realize we're moving in the right direction. Director Bruce Sweeney brings his own script to life with a cast of fairly unknown actors [something I find refreshing from the blockbuster Hollywood-isms of today's movie scene.] The story details not only the lives of Noah and Zipporah, a new couple to be wed, but also gives the accounts of two related couples, and the suffering and activities which take them through the course of the film.

The actual depth explored isn't uncannily dynamic, but the topic matter, though tired and constantly overdone, is not forced here. The lives and events in Last Wedding are realistic, and not over-dramatized, but sometimes come off as a little awry. The main point, though, is that they are humourous, and that is all which seems to matter in this film.

Last Wedding ends rather abruptly, but it didn't really bother me. I had seen all I needed to, and if the film went on, it may have turned a little cliche. I think the BC Industry gets props here, and certainly proves point that you don't need big names for an interesting and fun film.

Bruce Sweeney's Last Wedding is a hilarious but flawed look at three couples whose marriages all fall apart. This is the reverse of a romantic comedy. The comedy is there all right, but there are only fleeting glances at any thing that could be called romance. The film starts just before the wedding of Noah and Zipporah, the last of the three couples to tie the noose - I mean knot. From that point on, it's all downhill, as we watch how these three relationships crumple in a pile of miscommunication, and infidelity. Some of the moments in this movie are uproariously funny, but there is too much sadness in between. That is really the only flaw - the slow pace. But the acting is sensational, and there are many memorable moments - both of which definitely overshadow the pacing problems.

Despite the fact I volunteered for 2 weeks on this shoot in some rather sweltering Vancouver weather and that none of the volunteers was invited to the Vancouver premiere and that I actually paid money to rent this title and that not one of the volunteers was ever mentioned in the credits...the movie was yet another awful example of why Canadian cinema continues to fail.

I had no sympathy or connection with any of the characters in this film. The dialogue was trite and vacuous. The acting did nothing to correct this. And Molly Parker's performances continue to be flatter than a pre-Columbus Earth.

A complete waste of film stock.

Last Wedding is a character driven piece with intriguing little peeks into the inner workings of people as they make their way through life.

Though sometimes the scenes begin to drag a little they then catch their breath and come back to life again. It's a good movie for a rainy day.

This movie explores the many tangled emotions that throw even the most confident bride and bridegroom into panic. And then there's life after the honeymoon. Whether you are about to be married, newly married or celebrating your 50th anniversary you'll find something that rings a bell of familiarity.

The abrupt ending, as previously mentioned, was a little disappointing but I'm sure we'll be seeing more of Benjamin Ratner and the rest of the cast.

Within the genre of romantic comedies, Last Wedding stands out from the rest of the pack. It is a slightly absurd (yet very honest) portrayal of how relationships are, and how they can fail. Whether it's with hasty commitment, selfishness, or a flagrant lack of healthy communication, Last Wedding proves that our own, below-Hollywood-standard relationships cannot be ignored and that they deserve some sort of cinematic representation. Thank you Bruce Sweeney for bringing a dose of romantic realism back to the film industry. I don't know how you do it, but you turn the silver screen into a gigantic mirror for a captivating 101 minutes. You allow us the opportunity to relive our personal dating history with your own colourful brand of constructive criticism. We laugh as much as we cringe because you manage to entertain your audience without truly shaming us.