The Wedding Ringer is not a "knock your socks off comedy" but it is capable of standing up against any of the premiere comedies of the past decade. I would compare it to the same comedy vein as The Wedding Crashers, The Break-Up, and/or Bridesmaids. What I really enjoyed was every scene that Kevin Hart and/or Kaley Cuoco were slotted in because they are just so naturally impressive comedic actors. Kevin Hart plays the "Have great speech for hire Best Man" who knows how to impress a groom's newlywed wife and mother-in-law since everyone knows a wedding is always focused on the bride and the bride's mother. Make them happy and everyone will think the groom is wonderful! Kaley Cuoco plays Gretchen Palmer the needy and soon to be rich wife of a faceless and nerdy successful lawyer whose father owns the firm he works at.
I would have to say though that I dropped my rating of this film for the selection of Josh Gad as the friendLESS groom Doug Harris. I would have loved to see the deceased John Candy in this lead role but due to his death making him unavailable I really think Kevin James, Matthew Broderick, Luke Wilson or even Woody Harrelson would have been much better casted as the hapless groom than Josh Gad was. In my view Josh just does not possess that "IT" comedy factor that raises the bar throughout a comedy film. Instead the director Jeremy Garelick (who also is credited for the writing of the screenplay) stooped to lowering the comedy bar by utilizing the old gag of having a dog lick peanut butter from the grooms privates as he is blindfolded and assuming a very pretty Russian woman is doing the gorging on his peanut butter balls.
The last 20 minutes of a film can sometimes make or break a film and fortunately for the producers of this film The Wdding Ringers ended on a high note with a much needed Feel-Good ending. Sprinkled throughout the film are great supporting roles such as Jennifer Lewis (who currently plays Grandma on the hit comedy series Blackish), Cloris Leachman the tireless actress who is enjoying her eighth decade of outstanding film performances, Ken Howard, Jorge Garcia, and even cameo appearances by NFL Hall of Famers QB Joe Namath, DE Too Tall Ed Jones, and RB John Riggins engaged in a riotous game of mud football against the groom and his band of hired groomsmen.
All in all this is a light hearted and fun film that Mrs. Shullivan and I both enjoyed. As any wife will tell you, who doesn't enjoy a light hearted wedding theme comedy? I give Wedding Ringer's a 7 out of 10 rating. It is well worth the watch.
