The Wedding Planner

Rating:
Summary: extremely boring...goes nowhere
Review: I expected much more from this film...the plot sounded good enough and I couldnt wait to see it, but unfortunately, the film literally put me to sleep...nothing seemed to happen and there was nowhere for the film to go, it was long, boring, and pointless...maybe with some better writers, it could have been good, because the plot seemed promising enough....Lopez gives a bland performance as usual and has absolutely no chemisrty with her co-star...dont even bother renting this one unless u need a cure for insomnia, cause I slept pretty well in the theater...

Rating:
Summary: Unwatchable
Review: This movie is the one of the most formulaic movies I have ever seen. It basically takes the usual romantic comedy blueprint and follows it to a tee, not bothering to make any changes or distinguish itself in any way. Usually, in such movies, there is a certain chemistry between the leads. There is no such spark between McConaghey and Lopez. I have seen both of them do much better work than this piece of tripe. Steer clear.

Rating:
Summary: Was That Jennifer Lopez, Or Brittany Spears...
Review: The first question you have to ask about this movie is, what is the target audience supposed to be? In what may be a most telling scene, when the main character has an accident and wakes up in the hospital, she just happens to be in the pediatric ward; perhaps giving those to whom this insipid drivel would appeal something with which to relate? But I'm getting ahead of myself. In regards to "The Wedding Planner," directed (more or less) by Adam Shankman, that last comment should've been reserved for later, but by then I may have had to make it "cliche-ridden" insipid drivel. Actually, early on this film seemed to have some promise; but then the opening credits ended and it was all downhill from there. It may ring of paranoia, but the makers of this movie-- though unable to deny responsibility since they did, in fact, make it-- may have been able to make a case that they had been the victims of a conspiracy of sorts, beginning with the cast they assembled to bring it all to life. I can think of no other movie that boasts such a grossly unappealing, miscast bunch of actors, beginning with Alex Rocco as Salvatore, the father of Mary Fiore, the character played by Jennifer Lopez. Mull that over for just a moment, if you will; Rocco as Lopez's father.... For the life of me, I cannot understand Jennifer Lopez; she's beautiful and talented, and seemingly bent on making as many mistakes, career-wise, as she possibly can. Perhaps I should make that "artistic" mistakes, since with her singing career and being given the opportunity to make movies (even ones like this) she is probably going to be very materially well-off, even if she continues to do nothing of artistic merit for the rest of her life. Maybe when the teenyboppers have grown tired of her (which shouldn't be too long) and she realizes that she will only be able to invade Brittany Spears territory so far, she will go back to what she is really good at, making movies like "Selena," and "Out Of Sight," in which she demonstrated what kind of acting chops she has. How ironic that in this film she plays a wedding planner, when what she needs in real life is a "career planner" for herself. It just seems like such a shame that "J. Lo" has taken the fast-track to fame and fortune instead of employing her myriad gifts to better purpose. That she looks attractive in this film cannot be denied, but neither can it be denied that as far as her acting, it was nothing more than a walk-through for her. Matthew McConaughey, meanwhile, winds up in even murkier waters than Lopez here, with his portrayal of Dr. Steve "Eddie" Edison, the character whom circumstances bring into contact with Mary Fiore at a pivotal point in his life. He is engaged to Fran (Bridgette Wilson), but begins to have second thoughts about it after his encounter with Mary. The plot line gets pretty complicated after that, and for anyone who has trouble keeping up with it, I can only suggest that they confer with some of those currently residing in that pediatric ward. Any charm, charisma or screen presence McConaughey has must have been checked at the gate when he signed on for this one, because a more flat, uninspired performance you are unlikely to find without looking real hard. Hold that thought; can anyone say Chris O'Donnell in "The Bachelor?" And the lack of chemistry between McConaughey and Lopez is stupefying; interestingly enough, he has even less with Wilson. The producers would've had to bring in truckloads of rocks and flint to ignite any sparks on this set. The supporting cast includes Justin Chambers (Massimo), Judy Greer (Penny), Joanna Gleason (Mrs. Donolly), Charles Kimbrough (Mr. Donolly), Fred Willard (Basil St. Mosely), Kathy Najimy (Geri) and Kevin Pollak as Dr. Dojny (but don't blink or you'll miss him). Unfortunately, the best thing that can be said about "The Wedding Planner" is that it makes even the mediocre movies look good. It's always a huge disappointment to see talent, the likes of which are involved here, go to waste in such an unmitigated debacle as this. It would be so satisfying to see Jennifer Lopez, especially, in a project worthy of what she has to offer, and of which she is capable; as an audience, we can only hope that she gets some good advice about the direction of her career, and that she will have the guts to listen to and act upon it.

Rating:
Summary: Charming and Witty!
Review: Ok, so "The Wedding Planner" is not an Oscar worthy film but it is a sweet romantic comedy that will make you feel good about seeing it. Jennifer Lopez (Mary) and Matthew McConaughey (Steve) have great chemistry together and they carry on such a terrific banter through the whole film that you are rooting for them to get together. The rest of the cast are just as good the two who especially stand out are Justin Chamber (Mossimo) and Bridget Wilson-Sampras (Fran)both of whom have very well written supporting parts. Has a whole I would reccommend this movie to anyone who doesn't want to see anything too heavy but nothing too boring that it will make them fall asleep!

Rating:
Summary: Could barely sit through it
Review: I thought this movie might be good. I am planning a wedding for later this year, and I figured I could probably relate to the theme. WRONG!

I can sum up the plot of this extremely ridiculous movie quite easily. Jennifer Lopez plays a wedding planner who we learn is incredibly good at planning weddings. She is set to land a "big account", which means she is going to plan a wedding for some really rich important people. She just happens to fall in love with the bride/client-to-be's future husband, after a short, lackluster "date" in which we also learn that the future husband is a doctor/hero/crazy person who only eats brown M&M's for a ridiculous reason.

The movie is completely predictable, and please don't read on if you wanted this to be a surprise... BUT who would have guessed the bride/groom decide to part ways the DAY OF the wedding, and the groom decides to hook up with Jennifer's character. Oh by the way did I mention there was another man thrown into the script... that the wedding planner decides to marry later in the movie? Apparently you only need to speak with the man you will marry for about 5 movie minutes before you figure he is good enough to wed. Yeah, I didn't figure THAT part out at all.

And I suppose the scene near the end where the wedding planner is sitting around throwing out all but the brown M&M's is supposed to be touching. But I guess this just proves how nutty both the movie and the characters really were.

Rating:
Summary: Wedding!
Review: A busy wedding planner (Lopez) realizes that she spends so much time organizing other people's romances by way of their weddings, that she doesn't spend the time to think about her own love life. And then there's this guy (McConaughey), this really great guy, and he's engaged to one (Wilson) of the brides she's helping.

Rating:
Summary: Asking yourself why you should see The Wedding Planner?
Review: Well, I laughed, I cried, and did not let go of my boyfriend's hand one minute the whole nite! Yes, this IS "the" date movie of the year! Valentine's Day is comming up and I cannot think of a better movie than this. For you all "brides to be," leave the "husband to be" at home and take your girlfriends out for a treat! Honestly, you cannot go wrong with this A+ movie, Jennifer and Matthew have some serious chemistry going on and it shines through! THIS, is why you should see The Wedding Planner!........

Rating:
Summary: I like romantic comedies, but this made me want to puke...
Review: Two words successfully describe "The Wedding Planner": Pee yew. With an exclamation mark. It's boring, contrived, silly and not very funny at all. Its two main stars, Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, share absolutely no sense of chemistry whatsoever. The plot allows for devilishly funny situations that never arise from the recycled and visibly tired script. It's like sitting through a rerun of an old movie you've seen a million times before. And not a very good movie, for that matter.

JHo - I mean, JLo - plays Mary, a wealthy wedding planner (hence the title) and control freak who is lonely and neglected in real life, forming no relationships for herself. That is, until she meets a doctor (McConaughey), who rescues her after she gets her high heel stuck in a pot hole in the middle of a busy highway. (Don't ask.) He takes her out to a fair and they dance and almost kiss.

Then she finds out that he's engaged. Not only that, but he's engaged to one of her closest and friends. And, to top it all off, he's also her newest client - she has to organize his upcoming wedding. Then, his fiancee flies out of town for a week, leaving the two flirters together to sort out the wedding, and perhaps fall in love with each other during the process. But that will mean breaking up the wedding, right? Matters don't help that Mary soon becomes engaged herself to a man she has known since childhood. Why? Who cares? It's all part of the contrived plot I was ranting about earlier.

First problem: The cast. JLo can't act. Not only that, there's no chemistry/sparks between her and McConaughey, who also can't act his way out of a paper bag (or from behind JLo's most famous behind, in this case). And she also can't handle the role of the Beautiful Lonely Single Female, a role Sandra Bullock can carry off because she doesn't act like a...well...JHo the entire time.

I like romantic comedies, especially the entertaining and sweet kind. A romantic comedy doesn't have to wow me over with its plot or technical achievements; all I ask for are likable characters and an entertaining premise, recycled or not. Good evidence of this is "Alex and Emma," a film I attended a screening of some small number of weeks ago. I enjoyed that film despite its many negative reviews because I found the characters sweet and the story entertaining. "The Wedding Singer" is neither. It is both annoying and revolting, with unlikable characters (who come off as selfish and whiny as opposed to generous and optimistic) and a bad bundle of jokes.

And as I stated above, "The Wedding Planner's" premise is like a rerun of another old romantic comedy - but not a very good one. The woman who has it all together is lacking love in her life; when she finally finds true love she can't have it. Quoting Dr. Evil, "Boo-frickety-hoo."

The movie was directed by Adam Shankman, who has directed "A Walk to Remember" (2002) and "Bringing Down the House" (2003), the latter of which is very similar to this film and also quite unfunny at times. But at least "Bringing Down the House" had a top-notch cast, and at least it made me laugh - if only a handful of times. "The Wedding Planner" didn't make me laugh at all; it didn't make me care about its cute couple; it made me want to vomit. That's not a good trait for a romantic comedy that boasts how cute and funny it is. Quoting one of the most catchy taglines for a film ever, "You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll hurl." Take away the laughing part and you've got a two-sentence summary of this terribly mediocre movie.

Rating:
Summary: The Wedding Planner
Review: The Wedding Planner DVD ~ Jennifer Lopez is a great little flick. Lopez is amazing and she holds the movie together. The story line is not great, but who cares when you watch miss Lopez in a movie...

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably FAR FETCHED formula romantic "comedy"
Review: Another Jennifer Lopez love story. Bitter sweet and more far fetched than a "Will & Grace" episode. This stuff JUST DOESN'T HAPPEN!

Here's a sampling of the "coincidences" adding to a million to one odds: An aspiring wedding planner (with a lousy love life) is saved from a runaway garbage container by a gorgeous young doctor, who turns out to be her current client's fiancee. Mutual sparks fly. All in a city of, oh, 8 million people. Yeah, RIGHT! Mix in a few fairy tale situations (a cinema in the park with opportunities to dance, a ballroom dance class with more opportunities to dance, beautiful wedding songs, and more mush mush mush), and you have another Jennifer Lopez moment.

This is NO "Sleeping in Seattle" or "Groundhog Day", but merely another piece of commercial formula fluff unworthy of the name "romantic comedy". The male lead (what was his name?) has already been labeled a "has been", as this film won't be remembered for anything special, if it will be remembered at all. Save yourself the time and trouble, this one isn't worth either.**