THE WEDDING SINGER |
| 1 THE SETUP EXT. – UCI CINEMA, DERBY – NIGHT
The Lizard is strolling out of the foyer into the cool late night air, a thoughtful look on his face. He is flanked by WARRIOR MOUSE, frock film fanatic and LIZARD PRINCE, young person and filmgoer. WARRIOR MOUSE
(Tentatively)
So, Lizard, what did you think of it?
LIZARD
I enjoyed it very much.
WM and LP stop in their tracks and exchange worried looks. Something is badly amiss. Bats wheel ominously across the bright lights of the cinema canopy. 2 THE PROLOGUE Why is it that Barry Norman likes foreign films? Why are the tabloids raving about this film? Why does Uncut magazine give it 2 stars and spend most of the review telling us how brilliant Steve Buscemi’s part is? Why is it that Warrior Mouse expects me not to like The Wedding Singer? Why are films about sex always uncool as far as everyone is concerned. It’s all about cool and how cool is defined in your neck of the woods. For Bazza it is extremely cool to praise foreign films. For the tabloids it is cool to endorse a heart-warming, family friendly film. For Uncut magazine it is definitely not cool to like a family film but it is cool to rave about Steve Buscemi, himself ultra-cool by his association with Tarantino and other cool film-makers. Ok, this is a simplification and a generalisation but it’s something I feel I actually have to fight against when reviewing a film like The Wedding Singer. My first instinct is to say how trite it is, how it appeals to the audience’s worst instincts, how it is predictable and unadventurous. But the truth is, I enjoyed it very much. (And I have a theory about why sex films are always uncool but you’ll have to keep reading Reputations to find out why.) 3 THE REVIEW Adam Sandler sings at weddings for his living and has his home in his sister’s basement. When he is left standing at the altar himself he goes a bit crazy. Drew Barrymore is a waitress about to marry a young stockbroker who is a womaniser and all-round shit. Barrymore and Sandler become friends and he helps her set up her wedding arrangements. Even if you hadn’t seen the trailers or read the reviews you would guess in the first five minutes of the film that Barrymore and Sandler will be the ones getting hitched by the end of the film. Comic adventures ensue with plenty of sideswipes at 80’s culture and music along the way. Sandler is so nauseatingly nice, even when he is at rock bottom, that he’s difficult to take in parts. But I’m sure that’s why he was cast for this part. Drew Barrymore has begun living backwards in time and is now much younger than she was in the exploitation flicks she was getting a few years back. She looks gorgeous here and plays the part well. I still think she has the potential to be a great actress if only she can get some good meaty parts. For now, this will have to do. Steve Buscemi is in danger of becoming a parody of the parts he has been playing recently. Billy Idol as himself is perfectly cast. This film is completely uncool. Your mum would like it and your little sister, aged 12, would think it excruciatingly funny. The music is a reminder of what we had to put up with in that uncoolest of decades. The direction is pedestrian but competent. The script is funny but not side-splittingly so. Nothing happens which will surprise you in any way. All these things are true but still I enjoyed it. Some readers of the Lizard’s Lair will find it necessary to sneak into the cinema
wearing large hats to conceal their identity. If seen doing this they will deny they were
there and anyway it was a crap film. The Lizard, however, always remains cool by virtue of
his metabolism and can therefore confirm once more that yes, he did enjoy the Wedding
Singer. |