The Wedding Planner (2001)

1.5 out of 4

Starring: Jennifer Lopez, Matthew McConaughey, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Judy Greer, Justin Chambers, Kathy Najimy

Director: Adam Shankman

Time: 102 mins

The Wedding Planner purports to be a romantic comedy, but it is neither romantic nor comedic. This supposed showcase for the talents of singer, actor, and occasional fashion icon Jennifer Lopez has a lighthearted feel running through most of its hundred minute running time, but it rarely develops any comic momentum, except for one brief segment near the beginning. Any mileage it might have wrung out of the heavily promoted romantic triangle angle is ruined by a cop-out resolution. Ms Lopez herself is OK, but the film is a disappointment.

Mary Fiores (Lopez) is an in-demand wedding planner who has no time for a social life. Her skill at arranging and controlling lavish society weddings catches the eye of Fran Donolly (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), who engages Mary to plan her own upcoming nuptials to paediatrician Steve Edison (Matthew McConaughey). The trouble is, due to an accident, Mary has already met the doctor, and unknowingly gone out on a date with him. Meanwhile, her father (Alex Rocco) tries to arrange a marriage for her to Massimo (Justin Chambers), a childhood acquaintance from Italy. As the big day draws near, Mary is torn between her growing attraction for Steve, her duty to Fran, and trying to please her father.

For what has been promoted as a comedy, there are very few laughs. The best segment is when Mary first meets Steve, and their date is arranged by Lopez's perpetually flustered assistant Penny (Julie Greer). After they find out each other's real identity, the potential humour and romantic tension arising out of their odd predicament doesn't materialise. There is even one moment when Wilson-Sampras' character Fran conveniently goes away and leaves Mary and Steve to plan the wedding together. What could then have been an intriguing section almost made me fall asleep. This is a romantic comedy? Hmm. The way the love triangle is resolved is a case of sidestepping - after setting everything up for a dramatic (or even funny) confrontation, the story finds the easy way out. Contrast with My Best Friend's Wedding, which was not only funnier, but didn't shirk the triangle resolution issue.

Headliner Lopez has been in a real hodge-podge series of movies since she caught the world's eye with her starring role in Selena (1997). She was smouldering in Out Of Sight (1998), but lifeless in last year's The Cell. She is actually not too bad in The Wedding Planner. Her character isn't developed much beyond being confident and always in control, but her later dilemmas do show an alternative side where she finds her emotional tugs-of-war a bit too hard to handle. Love interest McConaughey is almost as lifeless as Lopez was in The Cell. The audience is not really sure whether to side with such a duplicitous fellow, though the story tries to make it seem OK by making him out as a likable sort of a guy who's not quite sure about his emotions either. I think if he was unsure, he should have told his fiance much earlier, rather than wandering around in a state of indecision. Wilson-Sampras (yes, she's married to tennis star Peter) is quite good as the unsuspecting fiance. Though designated as the odd person in the triangle (or the one seemingly destined to lose out), her character comes through relatively unscathed. The other characters don't make much of an impression, except for Julie Greer's Penny, whose ditziness provides a few laughs. And if you're a fan of Sister Act or TV's Veronica's Closet, keep an eye out for Kathy Najimy, who plays Lopez's boss.

Romantic comedies should be light, breezy, happy movies, with a touch (or, if it can be done, a lot) of romance, and enough laughter to make you feel good as you leave the cinema. The Wedding Planner is light and kind of happy, but that's just about it. There's not much romance, and, even worse, not a lot of humour. There are some similarities to the similarly titled The Wedding Singer (1998), but that film at least had a love story one could cheer for and more than a few laughs. Go see this if you're a die-hard fan of Lopez, but even admirers might find it a tough assignment to sit through.

(c) Joe Wong (29 March 2001)