Kiss the Bride

In Rhode Island, in the Italo-American family Sposato, Danni (Amanda Detmer) is going to marry Geoffrey Brancato (Johnathon Schaech). Danni is virgin, lives with her parents Santo (Burt Young) and Irena (Talia Shire) and is the third and 'the good daughter' of her family. Her three sisters come for her wedding: the older Nikki (the gorgeous Brooke Langton), a successful TV starlet, who works in a TV show very similar to 'Baywatch'. Nikki brings her boy-friend and manager Marty Weinberg (Johnny Whitworth) to be introduced to her family. Chrissy (Vanessa Parise), who deals with investments in Wall Street; and the rebel younger Toni (Monet Mazur), who plays in a rock-and- roll band with her lesbian lover Amy Kayne (Alissa Milano). Together, they have meals in the restaurant of Tom Terranova (Sean Patrick Flanery), the former and first love of Nikki. Many discussions in the breast of the Sposato family show wounds not healed, when the characters expose their real feelings.

This lovely low budget movie is a gem about themes related to family, relationship, love, feeling, religion and sex. I respect, but do not understand the unfair 'IMDB User Rating' of only 5.6, specially after seeing the 'Demographic Breakdown', the 'Arithmetic Mean' of 7.8 and the 'Median' of 9. The story about a Latin Catholic family is wonderful and the performances of the beautiful cast are excellent. There is romance, comedy and drama in right doses. I was particularly impressed with the beauty of Brooke Langton, and the wonderful smile of Vanessa Parise. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'O Beijo da Noiva' ('The Kiss of the Bride')

I don't understand why movies try to portray characters of a certain religion when they don't know anything about the religion. I saw the sign of the cross made with the left hand, heard that the church is wrong in teaching that marital intercourse should not be enjoyed (what?!? the Church doesn't teach that at all!), and a supposed Catholic conservative couple get married outside the Church. It takes minimal knowledge to know these and yet they didn't bother to figure it out. It was a cheesy, brainless movie otherwise. If you are looking for a predictable movie that doesn't require your full attention, then this could be what you are seeking.

I watched this movie on a commercial channel. Despite the commercial interruptions, I was surprised and impressed with the writing and the Direction. Filled with talented actors (Talia Shire and Burt Young of "Rocky" fame team up again, this time as husband and wife) who deliver, this film reminded me of "The Big Chill", because it is an ensemble effort, and it works. Allisa Milano (bit part) gives a great performance as an angry love interest, and the rest of the cast takes turns delivering strong performances that resonate emotionally. I believed the stories that these actors told; they developed characters that are familiar to us all. A bit smarmy, and perhaps predictable, nevertheless this movie has high entertainment value, for those who enjoy a good chick flick. A good movie to watch with someone you care for. ~abc

The Sposato sisters are returning to the family home to attend Danni's (Amanda Detmer) wedding. The oldest Nikki (Brooke Langton) is in a sexy TV show as eye candy. Chrissy (Vanessa Parise) is a high power investment banker on Wall Street. The youngest Toni (Monet Mazur) is still trying to shock bringing her lesbian lover Amy (Alyssa Milano).

It's a lot of sisterly function and dysfunction. This is low budget indie with its heart in the right place. Everybody has a problem, and everybody has to work through it. The missing element is the comedy. There may be a few cute moments, but there isn't a real funny joke in this. I don't know if writer/director/actor Vanessa Parise has it in her, but this script is in need of a funny writer. The jokes would counter balance the more serious stuff. It would make the movie more poignant.

I am a huge fan of Sean Patrick Flanery, I am not kidding. His work and not to mention his beautiful looks always get me, and when I noticed at Hollywood Video they had Kiss the Bride, I didn't hesitate to pick it up and watch it at home. Yes, I was a bit shallow, I kinda watched it just to see Sean, because I love him so. But I got more than that, I got an nice and honest movie about sisterhood and how differences can tear and pull back together a family. The acting and movie in general is a good one with some water wrenching moments. Although there were a few things they could have patched up, like some of the plots were not ending well or the characters could have been more developed, over all this is a movie I would recommend for a watch.

7/10