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entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
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Seen, Heard, Noted & Quoted
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by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
B PG-13 100 min
With the divorce rate in America at 1 in 3 (the highest in the world), perhaps this fictional story of marriage guru Reverend Frank (Robin Williams) is not such a far out idea. In this case, putting couples through a pre-nuptial boot camp is presented for laughs, but the idea allows a couple to sort out problems before saying “I do.”
Of course, Robin Williams overcomes any flaws in the story with his quick improv style of comedy, which keeps the laughs coming continuously throughout the film. Mandy Moore portrays Sadie Jones, who likes to control everything but is otherwise a sweet young lady. Her finance is Ben Murphy, played by John Krasinski, an emerging star from the cast of NBC’s The Office.
It’s a common real life scenario, in that the couple dates and falls in love. Ben asks Sadie to marry him in front of her weirdo family. The problem is, they don’t yet know enough about each other to plunge into marriage. Sadie insists that they tie the knot at St. Augustine’s church and complete Reverend Frank’s marriage course. Ben is not too keen on the idea but goes along with the plan.
Reverend Frank and his protégée, Choir Boy (Josh Flitter), use surreptitious methods like bugging the couple’s bedroom to find out the truth about their relationship and putting them through Rev. Frank’s boot camp to get to know each other. At first they seem like the idyllic couple who never fight. However, Rev. Frank gets underneath the couple’s skin-deep facade and the sparks fly.
Directed by Ken Kwapis and written by a cadre of scribes, the story has enough truth to make the situations funny. Clearly, months or years into a marriage, couples find out that day-to-day living fosters niggling annoyances that fester into tensions that erupt into fights. Thus, Sadie and Ben begin to get on each other’s nerves in the course of Rev Frank’s course, which is exactly his intent. He wants to unearth their differences so they can work out their problems before the marriage ceremony.
Williams fills the dead scenes with his trademark comedy, saving the picture from its tendency to let the comedic lines drop off. Mandy Moore is surprisingly skillful at portraying Sadie. Her problem is, she hasn’t grown up yet and is still living in the pre-marriage fantasyland, but the course is designed to make her face reality. Ben gets annoyed at Rev. Frank’s course and irritated at Sadie’s childish ways.
Some people believe the best way for couples to get to know each other before marriage is to live together for at least a year. If, after that year, they still feel the passion and love to get married, then they have passed the test. Rev. Frank accelerates that process by putting the couple in real-life situations that test their loyalty and love for each other. It’s a clever idea based on actual pre-marriage courses.
Josh Flitter is a standout as Choir Boy. This kid is climbing the ladder rapidly with his talent for comedy. He’s like Rev. Frank’s “Mini-Me,” echoing the gospel according to Frank. Again the element of truth makes the comedy authentic. We all see bits of our own personalities in these characters.
Rev. Frank’s pre-marriage boot camp is actually a clever idea, but it lacks the long-term tests of a couple living together. The ugly robot babies were a key segment of the film with their active bowels and urinary tracks. When Ben goes to change their diapers in a restroom with another mother changing her kid, she freaks out by the harsh way Ben is handling them. They were so creepy it’s hilarious.
The movie is funny, thanks to Robin Williams and a plausible idea. Moore and Krasinski have great on-screen chemistry, and for what it is- a medium cool romantic comedy- the film delivers what it promises.
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EU Critic’s Choice Awards
