Central couple in ‘Wedding’ is not bride and groom, but the
dads
Just after the opening credits finish up, it’s clear who the key
couple will be in
”
Our Family Wedding.
”
And it’s not bride-and-groom-to-be Lucia Ramirez (America
Ferrera) and Marcus Boyd (Lance Gross).
Central couple in ‘Wedding’ is not bride and groom, but the dads
Just after the opening credits finish up, it’s clear who the key couple will be in “Our Family Wedding.” And it’s not bride-and-groom-to-be Lucia Ramirez (America Ferrera) and Marcus Boyd (Lance Gross).
The central characters in this film are introduced early on when Miguel Ramirez (Carlos Mencia) goes out on a rare pick up with his tow truck when all his drivers call in sick. He hasn’t been out in the field in a while and he can barely remember how to use the equipment, which is why he hasn’t managed to hook up the silver sports car that is parked in a loading only zone when the car owner Brad Boyd (Forest Whitaker) comes walking up. The two start fighting on the streets of downtown Los Angeles – what will be the first of many fights, it turns out.
Though they don’t know, it all the way across the country in New York their kids have been shaking up together.
Lucia Ramirez and Marcus Boyd met at Columbia University, where she was in law school and he was in medical school. But that is about where the commonalities end. He was raised by a single father, without much contact with his mother. His dad is a famous radio personality who has lots of money, spends his time with young women and doesn’t believe in relationships. Lucia was raised in a two-parent household with a close-knit Catholic Mexican-American family. Oh yeah, and just to complicate things, Marcus is African-American.
The movie is directed by Rick Famuyiwa, who also directed “Brown Sugar” and “The Wood.” He shares a writing credit with Wayne Conley and Malcolm Spellman. The movie could have gone in two directions – a serious look at the cultural differences between the families or something that is just laugh-out-loud funny. The problem is the movie doesn’t really achieve either of these things, even though there are a few funny moments and heartfelt ones. But the big issue with the movie is that there are too many inconsistencies in the characters.
Lucia seems scared to disappoint her dad in anyway, and yet she is the one who initially forces her family and Marcus’ family together for dinner when the couple arrives in Los Angeles for a visit. And though her father has such high expectations for his older daughter, he seems completely content that his younger one, Isabella (Anjelah Johnson), is working in his tow shop.
The family’s meeting starts off on rocky ground when Miguel and Brad realize they know each other. It gets worse when the two announce that they are getting married – in three weeks. Marcus has an assignment with Doctors Without Borders, in Laos, and Lucia will be going with him. She skirts the issue of law school by telling her dad she will be taking correspondence classes there. In reality, she has dropped out of school to be a volunteer teacher and her reluctance to tell her family creates tension between her and her fiance.
More tension is added on when no one seems all that happy for the happy couple. Both dads are against the wedding, for different reasons. Even Lucia’s sister Isabella is unhappy that her sister is getting married, though it takes her a while to admit why she is upset.
The couple just wants a small wedding, but it soon blooms into something out of their hands since Miguel and Brad both insist on paying for it. Brad’s best friend Angela (Regina King) tells the couple to repeat after her – “Our marriage, their wedding.” The small wedding suddenly turns into a big event as Miguel starts talking about all the Mexican traditions they need to include. Brad tries to add in some African-American ones, but he can’t really come up with any, probably because he is so down on marriage all the time.
The movie takes a predictable path, with some outlandish scenes thrown in for laughs.
The theater was packed for this movie, which has been somewhat under the radar, and I always make a note of the demographics. A lot of the audience members appeared to be Mexican-American and many people laughed at the few jokes in the movie told just in Spanish without subtitles.
The only thing I really liked in the movie was Forest Whitaker as Brad Boyd because it is so rare to see him in a comedic role. It just proves once again that he is versatile enough to stand out even in a so-so movie.
Anyone who is looking for a wedding movie with a lot more laughs should check out “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” starring Nia Vardalos and John Corbett.
Melissa Flores can be reached at [email protected]. She writes a blog at http://meliss-movielines.blogspot.com, where readers can find more on movies, TV shows and life in general.
