The Wedding Video

Well, "Four weddings" it is not! That movie had so much intricate plotting, witty dialogue, genuine passion and tragedy. You really got involved and it swept you along. This one is basically just a jolly jape with some comedians fooling around in front of a camera. The plot can be told in a few lines. Best man Raif (Rufus Hound) is making a wedding video for his brother Tim (Robert Webb), but discovers that he knows the bride Saskia (Lucy Punch). in fact he was in love with her at school. He knew her as a rebellious character, totally at odds with the rather staid bridegroom. With the wedding preparations in full and frantic flow, Saskia increasingly seeks out the company of Raif, with predictable and dramatic consequences for all concerned. The conceit is that the film is shot using what appears to be a camcorder.

Yes, it's paper-thin and primitive. But actually Rufus Hound and Robert Webb are rather good and charming comedians who are very capable of making you fall off your chair. There are also some fun cameos from Harriet Walter, Miriam Margolyes, the brilliant Michelle Gomez (off the brilliant "Green Wing"), and above all, Angus Barnett as the hysterical vicar.

Within a year I will have forgotten all about this little frolic. But while I was watching it, I enjoyed it and laughed rather a lot. So there.

Harmless light entertainment, no bad acting, fairly predictable, yet enjoyable plot. None of it is laugh out loud, or gross out, but I found it enjoyable in a low key way. Also quite an astute take on the Cheshire set.

British comedies are hit and miss to say the least. My expectations were decidedly low for this one. I love Peep Show and will watch pretty much anything with Robert Webb (or David Mitchell) in it. However, when I watched 'Confetti' (another Brit-com with Robert Webb in it) I was left severely disappointed that even he couldn't elevate it out of the doldrums. The Wedding Video is, as you can probably guess, a 'film' made in the deliberately documentary style of the first person. Rufus Hound plays 'Raif' the long lost brother who returns to England when his brother, Tim (Robert Webb) is getting married.

Raif's 'special' gift is a wedding video, charting the build up to the happy day - think 'Blair Witch, but with witches is posh hats from Cheshire.'

The first thing I thought was how much Rufus Hound comes across as a cross between Simon Pegg and Ricky Gervais. His character is only one step away from being pretty damn annoying. However, in my (slightly biased) opinion, it's Robert Webb's character who saves it, as he doesn't suffer his annoying brother too gladly and frequently slaps him down when need be.

As you might imagine, the build up to the wedding goes about as smoothly as the wedding itself. There are a whole string of unfortunate and cringe-worthy events, captured on camera for our viewing pleasure.

The Wedding Video hasn't been that well received by people. I don't know what they were expecting. Granted it's hardly comedy gold, destined to become a future classic, but I found it certainly watchable enough for an hour and a half. There are a few good gags and the characters are actually quite amusing, especially the bride's mum who's totally obsessed with 'outdoing' her friends when it comes to her daughter's big day.

Some people have criticised the ending. I didn't think it was that bad, but without spoiling it, I'll leave that for you to decide.

The Wedding Video isn't amazing, but it's no turkey either.

I read some of the other reviews posted about this movie, and wanted to add my voice to the mix. I disagree with others that this movie was a train wreck. I watched the movie on a flight from London back to Los Angeles, and enjoyed it very much. In fact, I found myself laughing out load so many times, I was worried the flight attendants or other passengers might think I was a basket case.

The concept, I thought, was a good one. The interaction between the groom, his brother and some of their friends was fresh and fun. Rufus Hound was absolutely perfect in the role of the goofy brother, trying to do well by his marrying brother. The movie , also finds Lucy Punch in a role as someone other than the crazy friend/girlfriend/stalker. She proved herself to be more beautiful, funny and a better actress than I had previously thought her to be, and I look forward to seeing her in more substantial roles in the future. But maybe the best part of the movie was the undertone of competition that constantly occurred among the mothers of the brides-to-be.

The end was slow, and could have been improved upon, but overall I thought this movie was very fun.

Just watched The Wedding Video with my wife,She protested "Not another Wedding Movie"!,two hours later she was still laughing with me about this film,it won't win any academy awards or golden globes,characters do not look as though they are acting due to the semi "Doc'o" style of filming however the three main characters consisting of our Bride,Groom and Best Man with special mention of the the Brides mother and Grandmother made this film a laugh a minute,well maybe every two minutes. I don't know why some review's were so harsh,it is what it is,a mad movie about weddings and the loss of control by the "Couple To Be" the typical Mother outdoing her society friends and the Wedding Planner going out of her mind plus the best man (Also the Brother of the Groom)adding to the chaos. I liked the Doco style which reminded me of an Australian film "Kenny" a few years back,the acting was OK and worked well with the dialogue.

We did not want our money back after watching this film compared to a lot of the contrived American rubbish on offer in recent time,The English have a great knack for comedy and I give this a 8/10 for laughs.