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The Wedding Party

  • Film
  • 2 out of 5 stars
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Time Out says

2 out of 5 stars

This rom-com from first-time director Amanda Jane is affable yet undeserving of any bouquets. Lovable man-child Steve (Josh Lawson) owes the bank $25,000, the exact amount being offered by ethereal Russian babe Ana (Isabel Lucas) for a visa marriage; Steve neglects to mention this to Jacqui (Kestie Morassi), the ex-girlfriend he’s desperately in love with. He's the kind of unspecific loser archetype that’s all too common in rom-coms and Lawson never rises above the cliché. The romance is malnourished: Jacqui gets about three minutes of screen time in the first hour and barely registers as a character.

Christine Bartlett’s screenplay features a decent ensemble of characters linked by sexual awkwardness and familial ties. Steve Bisley plays the blokey-but-wise father dating a younger woman (Rhonda Burchmore). Adam Zwar and Nadine Garner nail the film’s most memorable scene – a break-up sparked by a minor gynecological complaint. But the jokes offered are more like statements of fact. Yes, buying a dildo for your wife is embarrassing; yes, BDSM clubs are creepy; and yes, some guys do ejaculate prematurely. In the dark, depressing landscape of Australian indies, this feather-light film wants badly to bring some levity and distraction. Unfortunately, it’s more likely to float away.

Written by Joel Perlgut
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