The film has plenty of rough edges, but other than that it's just a harmless, amusing comedy with a lot of warm sentimentality. As the title would suggest, it's about a father whose daughter is getting married and the various complications resulting. Spencer Tracy plays the father, from the upper-middle-class 1950s suburbs, and is funny with his deadpan stares and narration. (The latter, however, gets in the way a couple of times in the second half.) Joan Bennett is quite good as his wife, the calm at the center of most of the storms, (though occasionally the perpetuator of a storm herself!) and she and Tracy have nice chemistry. The final scene between them is a nice way to close things out. Elizabeth Taylor plays the starry-eyed, emotional daughter who goes on about how her intended "is the kind of person who can make everything absolutly,... teribly wonderful!" We, on the other hand, don't see that when we meet the guy, but I guess that's the point? You know,... what does she see in him? As Bennett says, "I know he isn't good enough for {her}, but no one's good enough for {her}." The wedding rehearsal, Tracy trying to uncork a Coke bottle, and Tracy trying to fit himself into a tux that doesn't fit are humorous. Pleasent, not really remarkable, but not bad.
Review of Father of the Bride
