Rating: PG-13
Starring:
Forest Whitaker as Brad Boyd
America Ferrera as Lucia Ramirez
Carlos Mencia as Miguel Ramirez
Regina King as Angela
Lance Gross as Marcus Boyd
Diana-Maria Riva as Sonia Ramirez
Lupe Ontiveros as Momma Cecilia
Anjelah Johnson as Isabella Ramirez
Special Features:
Deleted And Extended Scenes
Gag Reel
Other Info:
Widescreen (2.35:1)
Dolby Surround 5.1 Sound
Spanish and French Subtitles
Running Time: 103 Minutes
The Details:
The following is the official description of the film:
“Everyone’s invited to ‘Our Family Wedding,’ the hilarious and heartwarming comedy with an all-star cast, including Academy Award Winner Forrest Whitaker and stand-up superstar Carlos Mencia. When college students Marcus and Lucia (Lance Gross and ‘Ugly Betty’s’ America Ferrera) make a surprise engagement announcement, their feuding fathers (Whitaker and Mencia) threaten to turn a dream wedding into a battle royal. Throw in eccentric relatives and clashing cultures, and you’ve got a recipe for laugh-out-loud lunacy – it’s an event you can’t miss”
“Our Family Wedding” is rated PG-13 for some sexual content and brief strong language.
Mini-Review:
When I started watching “Our Family Wedding,” I was definitely on board with it. I like Forest Whitaker and my wife is a big America Ferrera fan from watching “Ugly Betty.” Then I saw Regina King and Charlie Murphy were both in it, so I thought this film had real potential. As the film started and we were introduced to the interracial couple, I thought we were going to see a modern take on “Look Who’s Coming to Dinner.” But while the interracial aspect was explored, it was reduced more to quick one-liners poking fun at blacks and Hispanics. It was neither funny nor profound.
Then as the families were introduced and the fathers started doing battle, it almost felt like some modern take on “Romeo and Juliet.” The two lovers were torn between two warring families. Unfortunately, “Our Family Wedding” didn’t take the story in that direction either.
We were then treated to a scene where Carlos Mencia as Miguel Ramirez is in a bathroom snooping around. It leads to the embarrassing destruction of the future in-law’s bathroom. While much of the movie was somewhat reality-based, here we saw Mencia over-acting and treating the scene like one of the Three Stooges. It was then that I realized what this movie was doing. It was ripping off “Father of the Bride” and every other wedding movie ever made, but in a bad way. You name a cliché from a wedding movie and you’ll find it here.
While the cast (with the exception of Carlos Mencia) is quite good, the script for the film is terrible. There are a ton of missed opportunities, the lead actors act like children fighting each other, and the movie does nothing original with the subject matter. It’s a disappointment on all fronts.
Who should check this movie out? I can’t recommend it to Whitaker fans because it’s not a great role for him. I can’t recommend it to Ferrera fans because she’s not in it all that much – the movie focuses on the fathers. I guess I’d recommend it to Carlos Mencia fans and anyone that’s a sucker for wedding comedies, no matter how good or bad they are. While “Our Family Wedding” generates a few laughs, it’s not enough to make up for the rest of the movie.
The bonus features on this DVD are quite light. You’ll only find a gag reel and a few deleted or extended scenes. Considering the movie is already an hour and 43 minutes long, I’m surprised there was any remaining footage.
