Movie Review

License to Wed

Posted by Chris Beaumont (chrisbeaumont@filmschoolrejects.com) on July 1, 2007

I really wanted to like this movie. A focused Robin Williams is a force to be reckoned with, John Krasinski is an up and coming star, and Mandy Moore is perfect in these light romantic comedy roles. The stars were there. Unfortunately, try as I did, I could not truly like this fitfully entertaining movie. On some level I actually do like it, but it’s more for what was attempted in combination with a few moments throughout than for the entire work as a whole. License to Wed is a movie that tries, just not hard enough. The script fails to deliver while the performers do what they can. I really wanted to like it, I tried to like it, but this movie just never rises above the mundane.

The story focuses on Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) and Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore), a young engaged couple getting ready for their big day. They meet with the Jones’ family priest, Reverend Frank (Robin Williams). Rev. Frank can squeeze the ceremony into his schedule in a mere three weeks, but only if Ben and Sadie pass his personally designed marriage prep course first. This is the comedic setup and complete thrust of the film. It’s a high concept that has some potential, but its execution relies on simple gags that don’t really mine the possibilities. I am not saying that this movie could have been a life changing, classic film event, but it could certainly have been stronger than what is delivered.

The film opens with ashort version of the initial meeting and courtship of our two lovebirds. It is better than The Break-Up in that we actually get a little bit of them together leading up to the engagement, rather than seeing the initial meeting, a series of photos, and then being thrust right into the break-up. Anyway, no sooner have Ben and Sadie become an engaged couple then they have to face off with Reverend Frank and his pre-marriage test, which grants him the right to refuse to allow the union to go forward if he does not believe they are ready and/or compatible.

License to Wed does not exist in the real world, nor does it even attempt to. Rather, screenwriters Kim Barker, Tim Rasmussen, and Vince DiMeglio have given us a script filled with characters that you may want to like, but you will also want to throttle for some of the stupid things that they do. This is one of those movies where a simple conversation between the betrothed would likely clear everything up, or at least dispense with the majority of the heartbreak that inevitably ensues. Of course, if the logical were to happen there wouldn’t be much of a movie. At the very least, it would have been nice to have characters that are not so blind in their singular devotion.

Sadie does not display an ounce of reason throughout the movie, instead putting on blinders and following whatever Reverend Frank says, no matter how ridiculous. Take, for example, the car driving scene, which requires Sadie to be blindfolded while Ben guides her. What reasonable person would do this? Even in a light comedy this scene is a stretch. Ben, on the other hand, seems to dismiss everything out of hand. He does not come across as someone of faith, and his actions throughout License to Wed disrespect what appear to be Sadie’s sincere beliefs. In short, while Ben and Sadie may be superficially compatible, there are some dangerous undercurrents that would eventually tear the two apart.

Enter Reverend Frank. In reality, pre-marriage counselors do exist, not to this extreme, but they do exist… and for a good reason. What Rev. Frank is trying to do is to pull out those undercurrents that underlie a couple’s relationship and to make the couple deal with them before stepping into what may be a disaster of a marriage. Better to deal with the heartbreak know then later on down the line. Of course, incompatibility and disaster is not necessarily the case; pre-marriage counseling could end up proving just how much two people care for each other and make the bond of marriage that much stronger. So, as you can see, the concept is there, but the execution fails.

The characters in License to Wed lack depth. The only time that depth appears is when a character needs to dispense some “deep” revelation, one that the audience inevitably already knows. Another place the film falters is in the inclusion of a nameless kid, the reverend-in-training played by Josh Flitter. The character was not necessary and just added that a number of additional unfunny moments to the film. In essence, the reverend-in-training character was a throwaway one that should have been scrubbed during the rewrite phase.

The performers tried their best with what they were given to work with. Robin Williams has a few funny moments–and he seemed to be more focused than usual–but the script just wasn’t there to provide him with enough material for an outstanding performance. John Krasinski brought a different interpretation of his Jim character from The Office, and I liked him here, but again, the script fails to deliver. Finally, Mandy Moore is adorable and the perfect lead for this type of film, however, her performance in this film was far inferior to her earlier one this year in Because I Said So. There was some nice casting in the cameo appearances of Krasinski’s Office co-stars, Brian Baumgartner, Mindy Kaling, and Angela Kinsey, however.

The movie’s failure goes back to the script, and the sitcom sensibilities of director Ken Kwapis. It felt like a half hour sitcom episode stretched out to feature length. The concept was there, but try as I might the movie never won me over. I did have a couple smiles, but they were few and far between.

Bottomline. License to Wed does bring up some interesting issues for engaged couples, attempting to spotlight the type of communication that needs to occur in a marriage. Still, when these tips are coming from characters that are off in this fantasy land where no one seems to have a serious conversation, it’s hard to internalize on any level. The cast is fine, but the rest needed to be cooked a little longer to prevent the mushy undefinable mass in the middle.

Not Recommended.