Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Tayyab Torres
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
FlashCallahan
Rufus Hound plays the bohemian of the two brothers in this comedy. He travels home six weeks before his brothers wedding and has a surprise for him, he's going to video the events before the wedding to give to him as a wedding gift.What Hound doesn't know is that his brother is getting married to a girl at school who was a tear away and a pretty wild child back then. She is now prim and proper and very wealthy thanks to her mothers marriage.The thing is, the more Hound spends time with her, the more his feelings grow for her...I like Hound. When he's in it, he's the best thing about the awful Celebrity Juice, and he's quite funny. The same thing goes for Webb. He's great in Peep Show and HIGNFY, so this should have been a throwaway romp with a lot of laughs.It isn't, and it doesn't provide any laughs. And. The main reason? Because everyone is so nice and the only reason what Punch and Hound grow feelings for each other is because half of the time they are together they are drunk.The supporting cast are your bunch of perfunctory middle class English people you see in every sitcom, the neurotic wedding planner, the comedy vicar, the wannabe posh parents, and the hilarious grandmother played by someone famous.All here present and bland.But Lucy Punch is brilliant as usual and is the best thing here, and it appears that everyone is put into the shade when she's on screen.It's predictable, and we have the cringeworthy scenes, that are not so anymore, because you can see them coming from a mile off.To be honest, the trailers looked good, but don't give in for the rom com thing, its really awfully bland...
aelaycock
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.
branjoro
If you're looking for a sweet flick with a few belly laughs and a cast of well fleshed out characters, you could do a lot worse than giving The Wedding Video a look. Until now I haven't been a huge fan of Lucy Punch, but she gives a truly accessible and warm performance as Saskia Dutton in this and fits very comfortably along side Rufas Hound, playing Raif the brother of Saskia's intended, Tim. Robert Webb does well as the brother preparing for his imminent wedding to Saskia, in what, if Saskia's Mother has her way, will be the wedding of the year. A lot of the story is shown as if knocked together via hand held, but is rarely annoying or as distracting as some such movies that rely on hand held cameras to capture the "fly on the wall" aspect of story telling can be. There are a couple of notable cameos with, for this viewer, far too short a screen time, involving Miriam Margoyles and Matt Berry and Michelle Gomez' role as a former flight attendant come wedding planner is the crazy glue that holds much of the film together. Rom-coms don't usually do it for me, but the reason this one flies is the great dialogue, engaging characters and a storyline that is not dripping with the kind of sugary cheese Hollywood tends to fob off as entertainment these days. The low voter score probably relates to the differing appreciation and expectations of humour that seems to exist either side of the pond. Give me a well written, fun British made film any day.
wrj-586-978228
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.
