Our Family Wedding (2010)

Instant Favorite.

hyped garbage

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

I am so shocked at the polarizing views on this movie. The ridiculous high standards placed on this simple film about its plot and purpose. This is no documentary. It is a very funny comedy about two families. Clearly, their is a significant amount of intellectual elitism that exists over race in this country. From the amateur comments to the professional critics, the focus on racial elements of this film are misguided and unwelcome. It is a comedy about two families that happen to be Black and Latino. A 3 star rating is absurd compared to the volumes of exploitative ethnic action and comedy flicks of complete nonsense, and worn out plots that receive twice the rating. Clearly, this films subject matter prevents far too many from enjoying a simple comedy by feeling like they must dissect this inter-racial plot into being something it is not. Lighten up! Can we all just get along??

First of all,this was hardly the "worst film of the year" as one reviewer on this site wrote. THAT film was called "All About Steve." This one was in some ways a standard rom-com and yes,there were similarities to other films from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" to "Meet the Fockers." But I find that all rom-coms have elements in common,so what's the big deal? The big deal is that this film involves a mixed race couple where neither one is white,in fact the girl is Mexican-American and the boy is African-American,both college educated and from families that are not poor. In fact the prospective groom's father has quite a bit of money,and the bride to be comes from a family that ,if not rich,is at least solidly middle class. I see why the critics,both professional and non,didn't "get it." None of the main characters is involved in gangs,drugs, or lives in the ghetto or the barrio. There are no men dressed in drag pretending to be grandmothers either . And there are no main characters that are white. No "best friend" no work buddy,no obnoxious boss. The plot involves people of color having to bridge a cultural divide. Are there clichéd moments? Sure. Were the fathers sometimes over the top in their dealings with one another? You betcha! Have we seen this in other films that didn't get nearly the lashing this one did? Certainly. I enjoyed this film because ,in spite of the normal conventions of its genre,it showed people of color as normal families dealing with a situation they may not like,but having to find a way to come together for the ones they love.

"Our Family Wedding" has some good actors and two great actors, Forest Whitaker and America Ferrera, but a horrible script. A young interracial couple travel back home to tell their families they're getting married and to plan a quick wedding. Their fathers, their cultures and their families clash. This is just rehashed material and no better than a poor man's "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner".They were going for laughs, and although I did laugh-out-loud in a few scenes, most of the lines were just rude, and all of the characters, especially Whitaker's, were just being insubordinate. Every character had friction with one another and sometimes we weren't even privy to the reasons, so not only were we not laughing, we're frustrated as well.The few laughs were not enough to overcome the frustration and many pointless scenes. Even if they were going for drama instead, there is no sense of drama just from watching characters act in horrible ways because the script tells them to. I can't really recommend "Our Family Wedding", only possibly to die-hard fans of the genre and fans of America Ferrera. This is a Ferrera we haven't seen before, mature and subdued, and she at least was nice to watch.

OUR FAMILY WEDDING STARRING: Forrest Whitaker, America Ferrera, Carlos Mencia, Lance Gross, Regina King, Diana-Maria Riva, Lupe Ontiveros, Anjelah N. Johnson, Charlie Murphy and Shannyn Sossamon. WRITTEN BY: Wayne Conley, Malcolm Spellman and Rick Famuyiwa. DIRECTED BY: Rick Famuyiwa.It's lesson number one for any newly engaged couple, and Lucia and Marcus are no exception. In Our Family Wedding, they learn the hard way that the path to saying "I do" can be rife with familial strife. When they return from college and too suddenly announce their marriage plans, they soon discover that their fathers - two highly competitive over-the-top egos - can wreak a major amount of havoc on their special day. With insults flying and tempers running high, it's anyone's guess if the alpha dads (Forest Whitaker and Carlos Mencia) will survive to make it down the aisle in one piece. Lucia's mother is busy planning the wedding of "her" dreams and the only levelheaded one in the bunch is Angela, the groom's father's best friend and lawyer, who manages to keep her cool when the madness reaches a crescendo. With only weeks to plan their wedding, Lucia and Marcus soon discover the true meaning of love and find there is truth to the saying - that when you marry someone, you marry their entire family. The basic plot of the story is pretty standard; a young couple fall in love and their parents do not like each other at all. However, with this movie there is the added element of relations between Latin and African American cultures. These relations are portrayed through numerous hilarious actions and comments that are not race sensitive, but definitely reflective of historic issues between the cultures and very funny. However, the great part of the movie is that the families find a way to have a great wedding after all this craziness. I think you will enjoy this movie, because it was well done. danceability-1, Amsterdam Holland.