The Wedding Ringer is surprisingly funny, mostly due to the hilarious Kevin Hart and the very likeable Josh Gad. In fact, Gad is so appealing that it’s almost hard to accept the film’s premise: it’s just 10 days before Doug Harris (Gad) is set to marry the lovely Gretchen (Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting) and he simply can’t find anyone to be his best man or groomsmen. The desperate groom-to-be hires Jimmy Callahan (Hart) to play the role of best bud, and organize the ultimate challenge in the friend-for-hire wedding world: the never before achieved Golden Tux, a wedding party of seven groomsmen.
It’s a little ridiculous, which gives Hart a wide arena for his verbal antics as they encounter one challenge after another, from brunch with the bride’s uptight family to a brutal football match with the bride’s dad and his cronies. Gad (who provided the voice for the loveable Olaf in Frozen) makes a very sweet, funny and sincere Doug, the chemistry between Doug and Jimmy really makes this bromance work.
The Wedding Ringer supplies plenty of laughs, which, for this viewer, more than made up for the occasional inappropriate and disgusting scenes that are de rigeur for the genre. Women in general do not exactly shine in this very male-powered movie, but the clever presence of Olivia Thirlby as the bride’s sister is compensation enough. Don’t look too hard for plausibility, it’s not that kind of movie – although, if one wishes one might reflect on the wedding industry as a whole and love as commerce. To summarize: I had a lot of fun.
The Wedding Ringer opens in Israeli Theatres on Thursday, February 19, 2015.
The Wedding Ringer
Directed by Jeremy Garelick; Screenplay: Garelick, Jay Lavender; Cinematography: Bradford Lipson; Editors:, Jeff Groth, Shelly Westerman, Byron Wong; Music, Christopher Lennertz; Cast: Kevin Hart, Josh Gad, Affion Crockett, Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting, Jorge Garcia, Dan Gill, Corey Halcomb, Ken Howard, Colin Kane, Cloris Leachman, Jenifer Lewis, Alan Ritchson, Mimi Rogers, Aaron Takahashi, Olivia Thirlby, Whitney Cummings, Ignacio Serricchio, Nicole Whelan.
