From Netflix Rom-Com Tremendous Producer Brad Krevoy (The Princess Change Franchise, Irish Want), Mom of the Bride reunites Krevoy with star & govt producer Brooke Shields (All of the sudden Susan, Blue Lagoon) after their profitable 2021 vacation movie A Citadel For Christmas.
The movie additionally reunites Krevoy with previous collaborator Robin Bernheim Burger, who wrote all 3 Princess Change movies over the previous a number of years.
Directed by Imply Ladies director Mark Waters (who’s engaged on a brand new mission for Netflix referred to as La Dolce Villa), Mom of the Bride facilities on mother-daughter pair Lana & Emma Winslow (performed by Shields & former iCarly star Miranda Cosgrove). Lana returns from her job overseas with the information that she is newly engaged to R.J. (Sean Teale) with plans for an all-expenses paid vacation spot marriage ceremony in Thailand in a month’s time.
Whereas it might appear that Emma’s sudden bombshell or the timing & journey of the marriage itself could be the toughest shock to take, Lana is stunned as soon as once more as she is launched to R.J.’s father Will (performed by Regulation & Order & Miss Congeniality star Benjamin Bratt), the previous school flame that broke Lana’s coronary heart a few years in the past.
Filmed virtually completely on the island of Phuket in Thailand, the movie advantages from holding the movie small with a good solid that appeared to develop shut off set and produce that power on set. The chemistry between outdated buddies & outdated flames makes up nearly all of the perfect scenes within the movie. Supporting roles from Rachael Harris (Fits, The Every day Present), Michael McDonald (MadTV), & Wilson Cruz (My So-Referred to as Life, Star Trek: Discovery) present simply sufficient levity & sass to cross the time between the extra tense & honest moments between Shields & Bratt.
So far as romantic leads go, Shields & Bratt do an admirable job for the restricted time they get collectively. Whereas it might get cringy at instances (“the pickleball scene” and others), they make it work as a rule. Whereas I might imagine the ending to their story could also be a tad an excessive amount of given their previous & restricted current, the film’s lighter tone can spare the second of incredulity.
Whereas the vacation spot marriage ceremony could have helped the solid to gel and the awkward romance to work, the social media marriage ceremony & the branding/company/sponsorship angle gave me ample time to second display and take notes because it was principally unbearable, well-worn materials from innumerable streaming & cable rom-coms within the fashionable period. Miranda Cosgrove makes each effort to salvage these scenes with a strong efficiency, however sadly, she solely will get a couple of scenes to essentially make her mark on the movie outdoors of the marriage doldrums.
Finally, your enjoyment degree will come right down to Brooke Shields, an actress who appears to have discovered her later stage area of interest with Netflix, taking part in the overstressed, profitable lady of a sure age who reluctantly finds love when she least expects it. Whereas the movies could not rise to the upper ranks of the style, Shields appears to encompass herself with deep casts of expertise in entrance of & behind the digital camera with the intention to take advantage of this degree of manufacturing. She appears to be snug with being the heavy, the butt of the joke, & the middle of the romance suddenly and that’s powerful to drag off until you’re all the way in which purchased in and it appears, whether or not it at all times works or not, she positively is.
General, Mom of the Bride is a satisfactory streaming rom-com that can pair effectively with a glass of wine – or mai tai – on a Friday night for followers of the style. Shields and Bratt exhibit their charms & toned physiques simply sufficient to interact their viewers. Whereas patches of the story’s lesser parts could ship you your cellphone or for snacks within the fridge, the film’s principally mild & ethereal tone and strong supporting solid will assist get you to the nuptial’s ultimate moments.
Watch Mom of the Bride If You Favored
A Citadel for Christmas
iCarly
He’s All That
Miss Congeniality
MVP of Mom of the Bride
Over 40 Seashore Bods!
Whereas vacation spot marriage ceremony rom-coms could also be again in type with Anybody However You’s success, most individuals hope for the younger {couples} to be the one to be exhibiting off their summer season prepared our bodies (Powell & Sweeney being the acute examples).
Nevertheless, the over-40 crowd will likely be checking on their gymnasium membership standing after seeing the tightly toned and generally ripped solid of Mom of the Bride! On the youthful facet, former CW heartthrob Chad Michael Murray makes me really feel horrible about being barely youthful than him as he performs the younger physician who apparently spends as a lot time within the gymnasium as he does the clinic. Wilson Cruz appears crazy-jacked for an activist actor. Rachael Harris & Michael McDonald appear far more beach-ready than most character actors I do know. And naturally, Benjamin Bratt & Brooke Shields take their star energy bods to the islands in type making us neglect they’re within the 55+ bracket! They have to all play HOURS of pickleball to maintain up these physiques.
If you happen to loved Shields up to now, particularly in A Citadel for Christmas, you’ll take pleasure in this one sufficient. Some cringe, however it’s a principally innocent & easy journey in comparison with its streaming rom-com competitors.
