Wedding Daze DVD Review

Posted by Dan Marsicano on 02.27.2008

Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher star as two people who are getting married...even though they only just met. Can Biggs and Fisher carry "Wedding Daze" to something more than a mediocre romantic comedy?

The Cast

Jason Biggs-Anderson
Isla Fisher-Katie
Michael Weston-Ted
Ebon Moss-Bachrach-Matador
Heather Goldenhersh-Jane
Joanna Gleason-Lois
Joe Pantoliano-Smitty
Audra Blaser-Vanessa
Chris Diamantopoulos-William
Edward Herrmann-Lyle
Margo Martindale-Betsy
Matt Malloy-Stuart

The Running Length
90 Minutes

The Rating
R For Sexual Content and Mild Language




The Movie


The romantic comedy is a genre that has been beaten to death over the past couple of years. Look at all the crap that people have had to endure: “Good Luck Chuck,” “27 Dresses,” and “P.S I Love You” is just some of the prime examples. Don’t even get me started on “The Hottie & The Nottie” or we would be here all day.

At first glance, “Wedding Daze” seems to fit alongside all of these shitty movies, but there is something about the movie that helps it to stand out…a little bit. I’m not saying this is the “When Harry Met Sally” of this generation or anything. “Wedding Daze” is a decent movie and nothing more. What makes this movie different is the surprisingly good chemistry of the leads and some hilarious scenes sprinkled throughout the movie’s 90 minutes.

“Wedding Daze” was written and directed by Michael Ian Black, a comedian who was a part of the comedy group “Stella,” which had its own show on Comedy Central for one season. The film was done in 2006 and went through three name changes (The other two being “The Pleasure of Your Company” and “The Next Girl I See”). The movie would make a short, and I emphasize SHORT, run in the UK before being pushed to the side. “Wedding Daze” never made a run in US theaters and was launched straight to DVD last month.

“Wedding Daze” tells the story of Anderson (Jason Biggs), a man who is in love with Vanessa (Audra Blaser). When Anderson shows up in a Cupid outfit, ready to propose to Vanessa at a high scale restaurant, Vanessa is shocked to death to see him…literally.

After Vanessa’s death, Anderson goes through the mourning period…an extended one. His best friend Ted (Michael Weston) tries to help his buddy out, but nothing is working. That is, until one day at a diner, Katie (Isla Fisher) comes into Anderson’s life. In a spontaneous moment, Anderson asks Katie to marry him. However, her boyfriend William (Chris Diamantopoulos) doesn’t seem to like it and her parents Lois and Stuart (Joanna Gleason and Matt Malloy) also don’t understand their daughter’s decision.

You can basically figure out the story from there. Anderson and Katie learn to deal with each other and grow closer and closer by the minute. The chemistry between both Biggs and Fisher is very good, as you can feel like they really have a chance for happiness. While Biggs plays the same character he has been basically playing since “American Pie,” Fisher dives into her role and is one of the highlights of “Wedding Daze.” I loved her in “Wedding Crashers” and “Hot Rod,” and while “Wedding Daze” won’t put her on the A-list of celebrities, it definitely shows that Fisher has a great future in the movie business.

Joe Pantoliano as Katie’s real father Smitty, who is the tough Buddist worshiping prisoner, puts in a funny performance. A lot of the comic relief comes from Pantoliano and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who plays Katie’s circus loving friend Matador. Whether it’s trying to stick a nail up his nose or swallow a knife, Moss-Bachrach provides much of the laugh out loud moments throughout “Wedding Daze.”

I haven’t mentioned Edward Herrmann and Margo Martindale’s creepy, funny, and weird performance as Lyle and Betsy, Anderson’s parents. His parents are basically the most sexually active old people in history. How are we introduced to them? I won’t ruin it, but let’s just say it involves whipped cream…a lot of whipped cream.

Michael Ian Black’s screenplay is decent. The movie takes a while to build up, but once it gets through the halfway mark, it really picks up. The ending was a bit predictable, but ended the movie on a witty note. Look for a superb cameo by Rob Corddry as a gay police officer.

“Wedding Daze” is a solid romantic comedy that has great chemistry between Jason Biggs and Isla Fisher and some laugh out loud moments. The story is predictable and their aren’t any “Stella” moments, but I can say without a shadow of a doubt that this movie is way better than “Good Luck Chuck” or most any romantic comedy out there on DVD right now. So rent “Wedding Daze” if you are looking for a movie to share with a loved one or if you have a thing for Jason Biggs (who does?) or Isla Fisher (count me in this group).

The Score (Out of 10)

6.5


The DVD Specifics

The DVD has standard stuff for a straight to DVD movie. So the audio is 5.1 Surround Sound and there are three subtitle options. These include English, Spanish and French. The video looked good, for the most part. There was some tearing here and there, but other than that, there wasn’t anything I could find that was distracting.


The Bonus Material

Even for a straight to DVD movie, the features are lacking.

There are three deleted scenes that total about 3 minutes. None of them are really worth mentioning, as none of them added anything to the movie. It would have been nice to have heard from some of the cast members or Black himself on the filming process and the difficulty in trying to get this movie into theaters.

The Score (Out of 10)

2

The 411: "Wedding Daze" is a run of the mill romantic comedy that is elevated by the chemistry of the leads and a decent screenplay. It's nice to see that Jason Biggs is still getting work and Isla Fisher shines in this straight to DVD movie. Michael Ian Black also does a credible job behind the camera. "Wedding Daze" is definitely worth a rental for couples looking for a good movie on date night.

Final Score:  6.0   [ Average ]