One of the more cognitively dissonant films in theatres, The Big Wedding is an astounding train wreck of a romantic comedy. When their adopted son’s biological mother comes from Columbia for her child’s wedding, divorced parents Robert De Niro and Diane Keaton must pretend to still be married lest they offend the Roman Catholic’s strict morals. Topher Grace is another son who’s somehow a cocksure virgin doctor, while Katherine Heigl takes up space wondering if she’ll ever have kids. A light comedy of errors could follow, but The Big Wedding instead goes for the vile. While most rom coms would treat their lead succumbing to alcoholism with a measure of gravitas (or be smart enough not to have it happen at all), here De Niro’s a loveable scamp for drinking scotch at 8am and cheating on his girlfriend (Susan Sarandon, slumming). What could have just settled for boring instead overflows into baffling obscenity.
This article appears in Apr 25 – May 1, 2013.
