REVIEW: Shotgun Wedding Won’t Win Wedding of the Year
It’s the night before Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom’s (Josh Duhamel) wedding and the pre-wedding jitters have hit them both in full force. The two are not only dealing with their family questioning if the two should say, “I Do”, but the pair is wondering that as well. When the fateful day arrives, the soon to be couple meet up before the wedding to decide if this is really what they want to do. However, while they are discussing their future, their wedding is suddenly hijacked by a group of armed men. Now, the pair must put aside their differences and work together if they have any hope of saving each other and their loved ones.
Directed by Jason Moore, Shotgun Wedding has a little romance, a little action, and a not-so-great story. The idea of a wedding being hijacked by bad people only to be saved by the soon to be bride and groom seems great on paper, but the execution could have been so much better. It may have been because the leading couple, Lopez, and Duhamel, didn’t have loads of chemistry or the fact that the stunts the two were taking part in didn’t seem realistic at all, but there was no build up in this movie. What makes a rom-com great is the back and forth will they/won’t they, and this movie didn’t have that. The audience knew immediately what was going to happen in the movie and could see the twist coming a mile away.
Lopez and Duhamel are not new to the rom com, so it’s a shame these two could not find the chemistry needed to make this movie a hit. They are joined in the movie by the wonderful Jennifer Coolidge. Coolidge plays Tom’s mom, Carol, and will end up being your favorite character. This actress as wonderful way of taking a nothing line and turn it into a line that will leave you in tears. Cheech Marina (Robert Rivera), D’Arcy Carden (Harriet), and Lenny Kravitz (Sean Hawkins) round out the cast. Each star had their funny moment, but I wish they each had more. The scenes that featured the families were by far the best parts in the movie. That is where the focus of the movie should have been rather than on Darcy and Tom.
Shotgun Wedding is not the greatest rom com to ever be released nor is it the worst. If you are adamant about watching this one, I suggest you turn it on in the background while you are doing something else, Thankfully, it is being released to Prime Video so you can watch it at your leisure.
Grade: D