License to Wed (2007)

Just perfect...

Great Film overall

best movie i've ever seen.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

"License to Wed" presents a by the numbers romantic comedy about a couple who endure a gruelingly awkward preparation process in preparation for their marriage by an off the wall reverend played by Robin Williams. Lead by Williams as well as Mandy Moore and John Krasinski, this film should have an easy time understanding what exactly it is and how to have fun with the audience. Interestingly though, the film begins quite promising with some genuine laughs as the characters are introduced and the plot is presented. However, the story spirals into one terribly executed gag after another until somewhere around the middle, it becomes frankly unwatchable. Wasting Robin William's talent might be the most serious offense the film takes. Considering how impossible that seems but even he doesn't seem to be enjoying himself after the second scene. Each charismatic actor are not only underutilized in their roles, but are given such unbelievable situations to work in everyone ends up looking bad. With every line of unbelievable dialogue and awkwardly outrageous coming plot point, it becomes quickly apparent there's no escaping the dark pit this film falls into. Every possible complaint given to the film originates in the film's script and direction. Both of which are often the most valuable factors in a film's quality and can turn the most talented actors into unlikeable screen presence. Despite the failure of the writing and direction, "License to Wed" is guilty of other technical incompetencies. The film's poorly constructed together with some obvious editing choices that make you wonder if this would've made a better Hallmark movie. Sound design and recording are not anything to be seriously concerned about but each cut seems to feel so splashed together it wouldn't be a surprise if the final cut was the first rough cut. Other aesthetic choices feel boring and generic which only decreases any potential the movie has for feeling remotely fresh.All in all, "License to Wed" is not only poorly done, but an incredibly unwatchable, unfunny, and unintelligent comedy that tries so hard to be uncomfortable and weird that it succeeds to the detriment of the film. It's painfully unpleasant to watch and definitely not something anyone should waste their money or time with.

Licence to Wed is billed as a romantic comedy. It follows the usual formula. There are difficulties that threaten the relationship which are finally overcome for a happy ending. The catch is the female lead played by Mandy Moore as Sadie Jones is the bride from hell. She is shallow, bitchy, obsessed by trivia, controlling, critical, immature, vain and half a dozen unprintable words. I hated her from the get go, and hoped the groom would escape her clutches, or she would have some sort of personality transformation. Neither happens. In the end, he marries this dreadful woman and everyone pretends it is a good idea.The groom, Ben Murphy, played John Krasinki is athletic, goofy looking, with the personality of a puppy. He is no great catch but he does not deserve her. He seems utterly unable to notice his bride's faults.Robin Williams, as Reverend Frank, coasts through the movie as if he were on 2 grams of lithium a day. He has a weird child sidekick who wears a suit and tie, who looks like a miniature Jay Leno. However, the movie does nothing funny with this character. I kept waiting for the scene that justified his existence in the movie. It never came.Other than the groom, none of the other characters have any emotional appeal. It is hard to care about what happens to people you don't like.The big joke is the movie is Reverend Frank gets Sadie to drive a car blindfolded while Ben guides her while they narrowly avoid accident after accident. The idea that anyone would consent to such a dangerous and silly experiment made me reject the scene outright. It was just too implausible. I saw the scene as a series of staged stunts rather actual events.Grace Zabriski (Big Love) plays a minor role, but she always fun to watch.

Mild spoilers ahead.As other reviewers have said, the Reverend Frank character hangs like a dark shadow over a film that contains stock, unfunny characters one suspects are in the film just to collect a paycheck. I've always found American romcoms to be psychologically unrealistic, if not utterly fantastic, at least as compared to British, Canadian and Australian ones.For one thing, everyone in them seems to have oodles of leisure time and piles of money and live in fantastic lofts in New York, LA or Chicago. Second, most of the secondary characters seem to spend their entire lives counseling or amusing the central couple, who show no real interest in their lives in return. They are massively self-involved. Third, there are moments that make no sense, as when Mandy Moore's character doesn't bat an eyelash when she hears that the good Reverend has been bugging her and John Krasinski's apartment, which would surely infuriate any sensible person.And lastly, there is a painfully unfunny scene where Robin Williams emotionally blackmails Mandy Moore to drive a car blindfolded under Krasinski's guidance as a sort of therapy, almost killing several people (not to mention breaking traffic laws). This wasn't funny slapstick, but mean-spirited, sociopathic narcissism.To be fair, the robot babies were funny, and the camera was usually in focus. And the viewer could play "spot actors from The Office" in background roles. But if you set your romantic comedy in the "real" world, make sure your characters have real emotions. The only real feeling seen came when Krasinski slugs Williams during a wedding rehearsal. Sadly, no one cheered.

Oh come on Hollywood why is it that in every romantic comedy you've got a girl who is suppose to marry a guy and then you have a row and leave for a few days. Well this is what this movie is about.Mandy Moore(Tangled) plays Sadie who is planing to marry her boyfriend Ben of course they go to some reverend and they have to do a course to prove how well they know each other.Well where shall I start with the movie well first and foremost I NEVER laughed at all during this movie. Robin Williams was so dry I was like what the hell was he thinking about being in this movie.I suggest you should see another movie that will have you laughing your head off than this. Thank god its only on for an 1hr and 35 minutes.