The Wedding Singer
Ahhhh, the '80s. A decade of bad hair, bad clothes and bad music. What a great time. The '80s represented such an excess of pop culture cheese that it was just begging to be parodied. Mocking the '80s is the central theme of this Adam Sandler romantic comedy.
It is 1985. Robbie Hart (Sandler) is an aspiring songwriter struggling to make ends meet by performing as a wedding singer at a local hall. He's a kindhearted fella who, in his spare time, teaches singing lessons to an elderly lady in exchange for her meatballs. All of his life Robbie has wanted just one thing -- to get married and start a family. It looks like it's about to happen until the big day finally arrives and his fiance, Linda (Angela Featherstone), stands him up at the altar.
Enter Julia (Drew Barrymore), a sweet, beautiful waitress who works at the same hall as Robbie. She's engaged to a complete jackass named Glen (Matthew Glave), a self-absorbed yuppie who wants nothing to do with the wedding arrangements. To help Robbie get over his depression Julia recruits him to help her plan her wedding. Soon the two become very close and must realize that they were meant to be together before Julia makes the biggest mistake of her life by marrying the two-timing Glen.
Like most romantic comedies, this movie is somewhat contrived and predictable. It's not difficult to figure out that Robbie and Julia belong together. The frustrating thing is that it takes them so long to figure it out for themselves. It's a simple movie, but it's also a lot of fun. The film features a number of hilarious wedding scenes. Many of them could have made this website's Top Party Scenes list. Among the highlights is the wedding Robbie performs at just after being dumped. He leers at the bride and groom with contempt, insults many of the guests ("the mutants at table nine"), and strikes up a rousing rendition of ÒLove StinksÓ before being punched out by the groom's father.
While the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore characters are maybe a bit overly sweet, they are also sympathetic and likeable. For Drew Barrymore, this movie -- along with the Woody Allen film Everyone Says I Love You -- helped shed her wild, bad-girl image (until she married that idiot Tom Green). While I think Adam Sandler is absolutely hilarious, his acting range is limited to being a nice, sweet guy or a rageaholic. Fortunately, it works. One of the most underrated performances comes from Matthew Glave as Glen. He plays the role of an asshole so well that some of his selfish, bastard lines are so subtle that they are actually quite funny. For example, after finally agreeing to marry Julia with a big wedding instead of eloping in Vegas he concludes the conversation with the line "É.it means more to you anyhow."
There are also a number of cameos, the best of which comes from Steve Buschemi (the funny-looking guy from Fargo) who plays a disgruntled best-man making a toast. The most disturbing cameo comes from '80s rock star Billy Idol. Idol's weathered face makes him look like he's about 60 instead of the 20-something he was back in 1985.
The soundtrack to this movie is a must have for fans of '80s rock. It features everything from the aforementioned Billy Idol to Boy George to David Bowie. One of the best musical moments, however, is an original song Robbie sings about his ex-girlfriend shortly after being dumped. It starts off in the style of The Cure and goes from melancholy to violently angry in a matter of a few chords.
The best thing about The Wedding Singer is that it's a satire of the '80s without trying too hard to appear as one, unlike the short-lived ÒThat'80s Show.Ó The '80s were such a loud, crass decade that it's easy enough to make fun of simply by showing the popular culture at that time. As a child of the '80s, I pissed myself laughing when I first saw this movie in the theatre. Unfortunately, the theatre was mainly filled with kids who were too young to get some of the jokes. If you grew up in the '80s, chances are you will love this flick. If the '80s were a little before your time, then you'll probably still find it funny, but maybe not appreciate it the same way as someone who grew up during this time.
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Despite the large number of wedding scenes, there isn't a lot of alcohol consumption. Still, it's a light-hearted-enough flick to raise a toast or two.
Unless you're more like Glen instead of Robbie, then, in the words of Robbie's date, "Éyou're going to get laid." Be careful, though. It might give her ideas about marriage.
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