The Wedding Planner (2001)

User Rating:

4.8/10   

Director:

Adam Shankman

Writers (WGA):

Pamela Falk (written by) &
Michael Ellis (written by)

Release Date:

26 January 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

His big day is her big problem.

Plot:

Mary Fiore is the wedding planner. She's ambitious, hard-working, extremely organized, and she knows...

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Doctor | Gown | Arranged Marriage | Dumpster

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

Cast

Jennifer Lopez	...	Mary Fiore
Matthew McConaughey	...	Steve Edison
Bridgette Wilson	...	Fran Donolly (as Bridgette Wilson-Sampras)
Justin Chambers	...	Massimo
Judy Greer	...	Penny
Alex Rocco	...	Salvatore
Joanna Gleason	...	Mrs. Donolly
Charles Kimbrough	...	Mr. Donolly
Kevin Pollak	...	Dr. John Dojny
Fred Willard	...	Basil St. Mosely
Lou Myers	...	Burt Weinberg
Frances Bay	...	Dottie
Kathy Najimy	...	Geri
Cortney Shounia	...	Mary Fiore (Age 7)
Philip Pavel	...	Benton

Also Known As:

Wedding Planner - verliebt, verlobt, verplant (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual humor.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (cable rating) | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:IIA | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG (cut) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Crystal Spring Lakes, San Mateo County, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Brendan Fraser was set to play the role of Dr. Steve/Eddie, but scheduling conflicts with filming the movie Bedazzled (2000) prevented him.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Steve, Mary and her assistant meet in the part, they are eating M&Ms. Steve is eating one after the other, including yellow and red ones, even though a few minutes later he is throwing out the coloured ones and explaining he only eats the brown ones.

Quotes:

Burt: A girl asks you to dance: you dance.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in My Kuya's Wedding (2007)

Soundtrack:

Skaters Carousel

So what will it be Jennifer? Singing or acting?

Jennifer Lopez has gotten herself into quite a quandry of sorts here. Only as of recently has her musical career exploded internationally, her focus on acting seems to be diverted elsewhere as her last few movies have been quite awful (ie. "ANGEL EYES", "U-TURN"). Before her musical career took off, her movie roles were quite commendable (ie. "OUT OF SIGHT", "SELENA"). For Jennifer, it is unfortunate that I feel she should have to choose between one career or the other because I don't think she can handle both. She is a great singer and she can be a great actress but it is apparent that she can't manage both at the same time. This mess of a movie is supposed to showcase her 'comedic' talents yet displays the worst side of her one-dimensional acting abilities.

The trailers for this movie depicted "THE WEDDING PLANNER" to be a few hours of enjoyable romantic light fluff that anyone could enjoy on a lazy Saturday afternoon. Unfortunately, I turned this movie off half way through after my nerves finally gave in.

Yes, Jennifer Lopez portrays a successful wedding planner who is successful in her career but apparently unlucky in love. That is of course until she has a 'run-in' with her knight in shining armor (dryly portrayed by Matthew McConaughey in a 'phone-in' role). The only problem here is that Matthew is getting married to one of her new clients and she may very well be doomed to a loveless life married to some loser from high school who used to pick on her. It's a no-brainer in figuring out how this movie will end.

Yes, movies like "SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE", "WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING" and "FRENCH KISS" were enjoyable romantic comedies. We all knew how they were going to end yet we enjoyed the two hour journey that we had to take in order to see the grand finale. Unfortunately for "THE WEDDING PLANNER", the two hours are a rocky mess that tries to pair two unlikely characters with no chemistry whatsoever backed by a sound-track filled with Jennifer's own songs. The only thing I really enjoyed watching was the San Francisco scenery (how can one not love that city?)

Usually when the grand finale in these romantic films happen, you generally leave the theater feeling warm and fuzzy inside or at least basically satisfied for the plot outcome of the characters. When "THE WEDDING PLANNER" finished, I could only think "Good, I'm glad this garbage is over."

For a generic romantic comedy, "THE WEDDING PLANNER" fails to deliver. It could have worked had the characters shared at least a little bit of chemistry, but I didn't even pick up that vibe from what I saw. The credits close with Jennifer's hit song, "My Love Don't Cost A Thing" and that generally tops off the point I raised at the beginning of my review - Jennifer needs to choose between singing or acting because her film career is beginning to suffer as a result.

My Rating - 2 out of 10