You're Cordially Invited: Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell star in 'gag-per-minute' rom-com
Set against the backdrop of a 'weekend wedding nightmare' the film is full of 'low-rent fun'
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
"Hats off to the writer-director Nicholas Stoller", who has taken an exhausted genre (the wedding comedy) and somehow brought it to "vivid, frequently side-splitting life", said Kevin Maher in The Times.
In "You're Cordially Invited", Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell play the antagonists of a "weekend wedding nightmare" that occurs when two ceremonies are accidentally booked for the same date, on the same alligator-infested island in Georgia. Ferrell plays the overprotective dad of the first bride (Geraldine Viswanathan), Witherspoon is a high-flying TV producer whose sister (Meredith Hagner) is the other one. The script is strong for a "wacky comedy" of this sort, with an often staggering "gag-per-minute ratio", and Witherspoon, who also serves as a producer, "brings A-list smarts and a genuine performance. Like everything here, it's a cut above."
"There's a surprising amount of low-rent fun to be had" with this "simple and silly" Amazon crowdpleaser, said Benjamin Lee in The Guardian. Yes, there are misses – "some overly absurdist physical comedy, a final song and dance" – but they're "just about outdone by the hits", and it's a pleasure to watch Witherspoon and Ferrell do their thing.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Stoller has some solid comedies to his name ("Forgetting Sarah Marshall", "Yes Man"), said Stephanie Zacharek in Time, and it seems he wants to present more of the same here: "zaniness served up with a slight edge". The trouble is, this film isn't at all zany or edgy. The kind of slop "you can have running in the background, without paying it too much mind", it is a gentle narcotic to dull the senses, rather than sharpen them.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why are election experts taking Trump’s midterm threats seriously?IN THE SPOTLIGHT As the president muses about polling place deployments and a centralized electoral system aimed at one-party control, lawmakers are taking this administration at its word
-
‘Restaurateurs have become millionaires’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Earth is rapidly approaching a ‘hothouse’ trajectory of warmingThe explainer It may become impossible to fix
-
Kia EV4: a ‘terrifically comfy’ electric carThe Week Recommends The family-friendly vehicle has ‘plush seats’ and generous space
-
Bonfire of the Murdochs: an ‘utterly gripping’ bookThe Week Recommends Gabriel Sherman examines Rupert Murdoch’s ‘war of succession’ over his media empire
-
Gwen John: Strange Beauties – a ‘superb’ retrospectiveThe Week Recommends ‘Daunting’ show at the National Museum Cardiff plunges viewers into the Welsh artist’s ‘spiritual, austere existence’
-
Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl: A win for unityFeature The global superstar's halftime show was a celebration for everyone to enjoy
-
Book reviews: ‘Bonfire of the Murdochs’ and ‘The Typewriter and the Guillotine’Feature New insights into the Murdoch family’s turmoil and a renowned journalist’s time in pre-World War II Paris
-
6 exquisite homes with vast acreageFeature Featuring an off-the-grid contemporary home in New Mexico and lakefront farmhouse in Massachusetts
-
Film reviews: ‘Wuthering Heights,’ ‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die,’ and ‘Sirat’Feature An inconvenient love torments a would-be couple, a gonzo time traveler seeks to save humanity from AI, and a father’s desperate search goes deeply sideways
-
A thrilling foodie city in northern JapanThe Week Recommends The food scene here is ‘unspoilt’ and ‘fun’