Our Family Wedding
On Saturday, I saw Our Family Wedding, the day after it came out. While I knew I would probably like it, admittedly I was a little hesistant about just how much. This movie isn’t exactly chock-full of A-list actors, except Forest Whitaker and America Ferrera. Most of the stars are only recognizable to their extreme fans, as the majority of them play on television shows or lesser-known movies.
Taking a page from Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, and subsequent movies like Guess Who? and Something New, the movie is about an interracial relationship that is a surprise to the family members of the lovers. Latina Lucia Ramirez (Ferrera) and her black boyfriend, Marcus Boyd (TBS’s House of Payne star Lance Gross), have decided to get married, unbeknownst to her strict Roman Catholic parents, Miguel and Sonia (Carlos Mencia is her father), and his womanizer father, Brad (Whitaker), and his father’s best friend, Angela (Regina King), who is like a mother to him.
Both families meet for the first time at a special dinner where the engagement is announced. The two family patriarchs immediately clash, not only because of their racial differences, but also because Miguel towed Brad’s luxury car earlier that day against his will. Soon the two macho men are wreaking havoc with nearly every aspect of the wedding, making the couple question whether there can really be true love between their ethnicities. Eventually, the motto between the couple is forced to become: “Our Marriage. Their Wedding.”
The movie in one word is: cute. While it certainly isn’t original, since Hollywood continues to make these movies just about every year, it’s a refreshing movie with many comedic scenes. Not often do we get to see Whitaker in a light-hearted role, so it’s a welcomed change. He and Mencia are extremely funny together, and their rivalry, but shared love for their children, are both humorous and believable. Their attitudes about the wedding are definitely reminiscent of Father of the Bride.
The handsome Gross is very likeable in the movie and definitely brings some eye candy to the screen, if his acting skills don’t win the audience over. Ferrera attempts to regain her footing in the feature-film world now that her breakthrough ABC series, Ugly Betty, has been canceled, and the transition seems effortless.
One thing though. The real star of the movie is the Ramirez’s oldest daughter, Izzy. She steals almost every scene she is in, definitely giving more comedic relief in the movie than expected. Watch out for her smart comments and remarks. Other hilarious members of the cast include cameos by Taye Diggs and Charlie Murphy as Brad's friends.
All in all, the movie was pretty good. It was a pleasant change from the other racially tensioned films that have come out over the years, as minority families are shown in a positive light, possessing love, fortune and a true understanding of family that isn’t always shown in Hollywood.