SHOTGUN WEDDING (2023)

 

A “BULLET TO THE BRAIN”

ROMANTIC COMEDY FLOP

The big “wedding day” is almost upon upcoming newlyweds Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom (Josh Duhamel), with the pair having a destination ceremony in the Philippines, hoping to enjoy the tropical surroundings with family and friends. As to be expected, stress levels start to rise when the guest begin to arrive, finding Robert (Cheech Martin) and Renata (Sonia Braga), dealing with on-going divorce resentment, while Tom’s mother, Carol, (Jennifer Coolidge), is too excited by all the travel and wedding day celebrations. Also, spoiling the mood is the unexpected arrival of Darcy’s ex, Sean (Lenny Kravitz), a suave and handsome man who Tom isn’t comfortable being around. When the tension between Tom and Darcy explodes the day of the wedding, their personal issues with each other are soon overshadowed by the sudden arrival of pirates looking to forcibly claim a multi-million-dollar fortune from Robert’s mogul empire. As armed enforcer to gather up the attendees and guest and begin to organize their management of their hostages, Darcy and Tom manage to separate themselves from their captors, force to figure out a way to escape from danger, save the day, and remain in love as they work out a plan to take out the invaders.

The movie hits many beats you've seen and some you haven't. The first act, in which the guests arrive on the island (Sean descends via helicopter, shirt open to his navel) and Mark Hammer's screenplay sets about introducing then all, is brief. But it feels endless, owing to exposition as blunt as the name tags that come into play later in the story, as well as catchphrase-laden lines that are too Hollywood-writers-room (like "Dad is a messy bitch who loves the drama" and "Pirates chasing you wasn't on your vision board?").

There are some nice gags here, and smart twists from screenwriter Mark Hammer, and some funny supporting turns. Jennifer Coolidge comes close to stealing the whole thing as Darcy’s eccentric future mother-in-law Carol, Darcy’s divorced parents Robert and Renata are played by stoner-comedy veteran Cheech Marin and the distinguished Brazilian star Sonia Braga (from Kleber Mendonça Filho’s arthouse hit Aquarius) who never treats this material with anything other than absolute seriousness. Above all there is Darcy’s creepy alpha male, hardbodied and sensitive overachiever ex-boyfriend Sean, amusingly played by Lenny Kravitz, who shows up unannounced at the wedding and ignites a firestorm of miserable jealousy in poor Tom’s heart.

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