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THE WEDDING PLANNER *** out of *****
 Genres
2001
Directed by
Adam Shankman
Written by
Pamela Falk
Michael Ellis Cast J.Lo... Mary Fiore Matthew McConaughey .... Steve 'Eddie' Edison Bridgette Wilson-Sampras .... Francine Donolly Justin Chambers .... Massimo Lenzetti Judy Greer .... Penny Nicholson Alex Rocco .... Salvatore Fiore
The blurb on this DVD reads:
"If you loved ‘MY BEST FRIEND’S WEDDING’, ‘MURIEL’S WEDDING’, ‘FOUR WEDDINGS AND A FUNERAL’, and ‘THE WEDDING SINGER’ then take a walk down the aisle with this year’s most charming romantic comedy…"
Why yes, I did enjoy all four of the above movies. Though it irritates that movie executives could brand me with such razor-sharp precision. Manipulating me for box office revenue like a Swiss farmer milks his mountain goat.
In The Wedding Planner J.Lo plays Mary Fiore, an uptight, unlucky-in-love wedding planner. She eats her dinner alone. She drinks her glass of wine alone. She spends her evenings making sure that her sweaters are folded just right. But she’s strong, that Mary, yes she is. Tougher than you or I. She’s also the type of person you laugh at when she’s buying her soup-for-one at the supermarket. Loser!
Mary has just scored the biggest coup of her career: the chance to plan the wedding of Francine Donolly, San Francisco’s most beautiful tycoon. Mary has also just met a mysterious doctor, Eddie (Matthew McConaughey), a southern charmer who saves her from a mysterious killer rubbish skip. Things are looking up for our Mary.
Unfortunately, things never work out for people like Mary. It turns out that the handsome doctor is none other than the groom of the wedding that she is planning! When Mary finds this out she does what most women do when they’re pissed-off: she dances an angry tango. Oh jeez! - as John Travolta would say - when will our Mary ever get a break?
With lines from the Lo like: "Y'know, those who can't do, teach? Well those who can't wed, plan", I am sure that if I had nuts I would rather shave them for money than watch this film. But that’s not the point. The point is that Jennifer Love Hewitt was originally set to star in this movie. Love! It is tough call as to who I would rather be stuck in a windowless room with for 24 hours. The Lo wins, if only by a fraction, because you just know that Love would want to talk about her feelings.
I’m not a crazy wedding nut, I swear, but I have to admit that I rather liked The Wedding Planner. I know: no one has ever said it out loud. It is simple, sweet, and yes, very predictable. It is a romantic comedy alright? Sure, J.Lo tries to pull off being Italian, but hey, there’s only so many ethnic-looking actresses in this world. To build on a poignant analogy delivered by Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding: sometimes you feel like crème brulee and sometimes you feel like jello. The Wedding Planner is that nasty strawberry concentrate you use to make milkshakes with. Once, syrupy sweet. Twice, nasty. Three times, you’re blind!
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