IMDb > Betsy's Wedding (1990)
Betsy's Wedding
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Betsy's Wedding (1990) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
5.4/10   1,775 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 2% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writer (WGA):
Alan Alda (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for Betsy's Wedding on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
22 June 1990 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
The wedding picture doesn't always tell the whole story.
Plot:
Offbeat fashion student Betsy Hopper and her straight-laced investment-banker fiancé, Dylan Walsh, just want an intimate little wedding reception... more | add synopsis
Awards:
2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(2 articles)
Scenes We Love: The Four Seasons
 (From Cinematical. 13 April 2009, 4:02 PM, PDT)

Comedian Joey Bishop Dies at 89
 (From WENN. 18 October 2007)

User Comments:
Pillow Fight more (16 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Alan Alda ... Eddie Hopper

Joey Bishop ... Eddie's Father

Madeline Kahn ... Lola Hopper

Anthony LaPaglia ... Stevie Dee

Catherine O'Hara ... Gloria Henner

Joe Pesci ... Oscar Henner

Molly Ringwald ... Betsy Hopper

Ally Sheedy ... Connie Hopper

Burt Young ... Georgie
Julie Bovasso ... Grandma

Nicolas Coster ... Harry Lovell
Bibi Besch ... Nancy Lovell

Dylan Walsh ... Jake Lovell
Camille Saviola ... Angelica

Allan Rich ... Nate Tobias
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Additional Details

Runtime:
94 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Inspired by Alan Alda's own daughter's wedding. more
Quotes:
Connie Hopper: I'm a cop, and you're... not. more
Soundtrack:
Moondance more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful.
Pillow Fight, 10 July 2008
Author: tedg (tedg@FilmsFolded.com) from Virginia Beach

This is a significant failure for interesting reasons.

Situations can be funny. Worlds can be funny. People can be too, but not all at the same time.

Alda comes from a tradition where people are funny. Situations are there, and worlds too, but only so that funny people can be so.

This is his script, and the whole idea is to fill the screen with people that he thinks are amusing. His style is soft caricatures so that's what we have here: soft Jewish mother, soft gangster, soft, soft, soft. Something like this formula works for MASH because the brand in such TeeVee shows is the accrued recognition without the edges.

But this is long form film, not a skit. Edges are required. Even the gangster shootout is padded with charm.

In such a situation, we seek out the most interesting character. Since there are none as characters, the game is to find the actor playing a character that we find appealing. Fortunately that is easy, since each actor is apparent as an actor.

The one that is the focus for me this time and when I saw it as new, is Anthony LaPaglia as the genteel second generation gangster. He falls for Ally Sheedy, here in red hair.

The expected center was to have been Betsy, played by Molly Ringwald. Her character is given one trait only, but that's all any is allowed. She is a wacky dress designer. The dresses aren't amusing, and most of them not that odd. This film, I think, is the turning point in her career, where we saw that she wasn't charming in the way we had seen earlier. I'm sure that is what she wanted, but there's nothing to substitute for how she was presented earlier.

Its all the more striking because her sister is played by Ally Sheedy.

Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.

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