The Wedding Ringer

As The Wedding Ringer kicked off, I was not feeling confident about where it was going.  The energy level seemed off, and the laughs just weren't there.  But then, little by little, the movie started to improve and win me over.  I liked the lead characters, there were some genuine laughs, and even a couple sweet moments.  No, this is not a great movie, but I did find myself enjoying it more than I initially expected.  In the dreary and early days of January, any comedy that can deliver some real laughs deserves some sort of recognition.

Rising comic star Kevin Hart plays Jimmy Callahan, a "professional Best Man" who will come to the rescue of friendless, hopeless guys who are about to get married and don't have anyone to serve as their Best Man at their wedding.  For a price, he will pretend to be your best friend during the ceremony, and give a heartwarming speech at your wedding.  For a little extra, he'll send you cards on your birthday, or even speak at your funeral.  His latest client is Doug (Josh Gad), who is about to be wed to a future Bridezilla named Gretchen (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting from TV's The Big Bang Theory), and has devoted his entire life to his career to the point that he has no real friends.  So, Doug doesn't just need a Best Man, he needs other guys to serve as his groomsmen.  Jimmy is up to the challenge, and gathers together a ragtag group of guys made up of prison inmates, lowlifes and losers to act as Doug's closest friends.  Doug himself puts it best when he lays eyes on the guys who are supposed to be his groomsmen for the first time, and says they look like "the cast of The Goonies if they all grew up to be rapists".

The humor in The Wedding Ringer is of the same over the top low brow humor as The Hangover films.  There's also a gag that seems to be borrowed from the Farrelly Brothers (Dumb and Dumber, There's Something About Mary), where Gretchen's sweet old grandmother (Cloris Leachman) is accidentally set on fire during a family dinner.  The gag involving the accidental flare up, as well as the grandmother's physical appearance during the rest of the film, gets some good laughs.  This is a frequently crude and crass movie, but it is not mean spirited.  Nobody is trying to hurt anyone in this movie, it's just things keep on skyrocketing out of control.  That's what makes it funny.  A lot of the situations, even the one where Doug ends up with a dog's teeth clamped down on his privates, initially start with good intentions.  In the case of the dog, it's a bachelor party prank involving peanut butter that goes horribly wrong.

It is the comedic pairing of Kevin Hart and Josh Gad that keeps the flow of the movie from getting too extreme and gross, however.  They even manage a few genuinely sincere moments together.  Obviously, both actors are playing at different levels here, but in a way, that's what makes it work.  Hart is an energized motormouth who can sometimes come across as obnoxious, but first-time director and co-writer, Jeremy Garelick, knows how to use Hart's talents so that he's not completely dominating the screen, while still holding our attention.  Gad is more low key, playing the likable loser type who doesn't believe he's managed to make a woman like Gretchen fall in love with him, let alone marry him, and eventually starts to wonder why she actually does love him, or if she loves him at all.  The film successfully plays on the strengths of both of its stars, and manages to create some truly funny banter in an "opposites attract" sort of way.

But most surprisingly, the film gives the pair some successful quiet and bonding moments as the two characters discover that they are more alike than they initially think.  Jimmy initially brushes Doug off as a "friendless loser", but really, isn't a man who offers his services to be a temporary friend for a wedding weekend the same way?  Jimmy has no real friends in his life either, and as they start to truly like each other as they spend time together, they realize that they need each other in their lives.  It's nothing deep or powerful, but in a movie that's built around crude laughs, it's kind of sweet and manages to add a sentimental layer that isn't overpowering or sappy.  I liked the relationship that was built between the two guys, and I wanted to see them get together.  That's the key ingredient of any mismatched buddy comedy, and this one pulls it off.

The Wedding Ringer was supposedly initially intended as a vehicle for Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, but I think the filmmakers made the right choice by coming up with a new comic pairing here.  It's one that doesn't sound like it should work, but it winds up working a lot better than you would think.  The movie winds up working better than you would think, also.  It won't be seen as a classic anytime soon, but it's energetic, sweet and kind of fun.

See the movie times in your area or buy the DVD at Amazon.com!

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