Wedding is such a fertile ground for star -driven comedies, it seems impossible to reinvent the sub -genre. Some manage to add a new spin to a setting that has been codified by “My Best Friend’s Wedding”, “Wedding Crashers” and “27 dresses.” “Palm Springs” is an excellent recent example, for example. “Someone other than you“Was less creative but more economically successful thanks to Hottie couple Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney.
Into This Fray comes in “You are heartfelt invited”, written and directed by Nicholas Stoller, whose efforts include “Forget Sarah Marshall“And”Neighbors. “Intended for streaming on Main Video (Like so many comedies today) This marital ramp stars will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon. Although it is often fun thanks to an excellent support crew, it also draws too long and comes to an unmatched Rome-com conclusion. Let’s just say that Ferrell and Witherspoon do not light the screen opposite each other, even though they play amazingly against their different costs.
Despite the shortcomings in “You are heartfelt invited”, there is a gloom to the fact that it will end up in the intestines in Prime Video. The giggles are good enough because it plays well in a room full of people, and Stoller is a proven hitmaker – at least in another era. But Hollywood’s lack of faith in comedy as a genre means this film has been moved to a second release level.
Ferrell plays Jim, a dotting widow Dad in Atlanta, whose only daughter Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan) announces that she is marrying Dopey Dj Oliver. (Stony Blenden). Jim quickly calls Palmetto Inn, where he and his late wife band tied to book the arena. He knows a little that the older woman who takes down her reservation does not have a functioning pen and dies quickly.
At the same time, Witherspoon Margot, a hard-charging reality TV producer-we see a glimpse of one of her show, called “is it dead?”, Which gives a solid gag. Margot is overjoyed when her little sister Neve (Meredith Hagner) reveals that she is engaged to her exotic dancer boyfriend Dixon (Jimmy Tatro). With Witherspoon’s classic Steely determination, Margot decides to throw Neve the perfect wedding. Their ideal position? Palmetto, because their beloved grandmother had a home nearby. The old lady’s replacement, played by Jack McBrayer, responds to the phone and double books on the site.
As such, both Margot and Jim arrive in the island on June 1 ready to celebrate. The problem is that the place is small and cannot accommodate both. They quickly decide to share, and thus follow hijinks and bitterness.
The mechanics required to get into this mess are a little strained. We never find out how the inn manages to suit all these people and where everyone sleeps. And even though Jim is supposed to be a man who looks at his daughter every move, he has left planning completely to her bridesmaid heater. It is not very meaningful, but fortunately heather is played by the exuberant “curb your enthusiasm” fracture Keyla Monterroso Mejia, who also steals scenes in “one of them days.”
“You are heartily invited” stands out more at these small character types than in their large sets, which feel too predictable. (Do the ceremony on a small jetty? Yes, someone will end up in the water.) Instead, the joy comes from Mejia that makes a dramatic read of “Oh, the places you go!” And the couple Leanne Morgan and Rory Scovel as Margot’s second, deep southern siblings. Scovel’s insistence at calling his character husband “The Wife” is a bit that pays off, and Morgan’s Rantings about her house in Garden & Gun makes her a pleasure every time she is on the screen.
Both Ferrell and Witherspoon tramp familiar land in their performances. Witherspoon’s character opposes her mother (Celia Weston), who she perceives as assessing her only life in Los Angeles, in an echo of her “sweet home Alabama” Snobb. She stomps through the film in heels and tight dresses with her small but powerful power. Ferrell, on the other hand, goes the boundary between sweet and scary when he plays a guy who refuses to release his little girl and thinks that “Islands in the stream” is a suitable song for a duet between a parent and child.
The stars click better opposite their characters’ and clans. Ferrell and Viswanathan are delightful together as they switch between battles and hugs for a few moments. And Witherspoon seems to be most calm when she rifles with Margot’s chaotic siblings. So when the movie ultimately tries to drive Jim and Margot for a romantic plot line, it feels awkward. Witherspoon and Ferrell are good as enemies. As a lover, they miss any spark.
In the end, “You are heartfelt invited” to achieve their most emotional moments when it focuses on lonely people trying to join those closest to them, but Stoller Hamstrings himself by simply doing the role and circumstances of the act too great. Instead of a protagonist trying to learn and grow, we have two. Still, the movie succeeds when it just lets the talented goofs do its thing, and it is a small win for a genre that needs it.
Rating: C+
“You are heartily invited” will be available to stream on Prime Video as of Thursday, January 30.
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