(L to R) Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
‘You’re Cordially Invited’ receives 6 out of 10 stars.
Arriving on Prime Video on January 30th, ‘You’re Cordially Invited’ takes your basic wedding confusion comedy and blends it with the particular style of writer/director Nicholas Stoller, who has previously brought us the likes of ‘The Five-Year Engagement,’ ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’ and ‘Bros.’
The blend, like the two families awkwardly trying to share space when a venue is double-booked, doesn’t always completely work.
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Should you RSVP to ‘You’re Cordially Invited’?
(L to R) Jimmy Tatro, Meredith Hagner and Reese Witherspoon in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
Back in 2009, Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway starred in ‘Bride Wars’ as two friends preparing to get married who discover that their nuptials have been double booked into the same venue.
Stoller’s film takes that concept and uses it instead to explore the wider idea of families with issues they have to work out instead of just two people and their respective betrothed.
But ‘Bride Wars’ is not the only existing film that this new one appears to borrow from like a cinematic magpie –– there are elements of ‘Wedding Crashers,’ ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ and more all in the mix.
Script and Direction
(L to R) Nicholas Stoller (Director) and Reese Witherspoon (Margot) in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
Stoller has been working as both writer and director on his movies for a while now, so he’s fully responsible for all that works… And what doesn’t.
The storyline for this one feels fairly basic but delves into some deeper issues. Will Ferrell’s Jim is a single dad who lost his wife years ago to illness, and he’s a little too doting on daughter Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan), who returns from college and announces that she’s getting married.
Then we have Reese Witherspoon as Margot, an LA-based reality show super-producer whose younger sister Neve (Meredith Hagner), she considers the only part of her Southern family truly worth engaging with.
When Jim attempts to book the island locale where he got married by phone, he thinks all is well –– except the elderly inn manager’s pen doesn’t work and then she keels over dead after putting the handset down. Margot, meanwhile, gets the manager’s grandson Leslie (Jack McBrayer), who fills her details in and processes her credit card.
So the scene is set for both families to show up on the same weekend and chaos to follow –– while the parties initial agree to share, things quickly escalate to farcical levels.
Trouble is, while Stoller tries to weave in more emotional layers –– Jim about his wife, Margot about her family drama –– little of that sits well with the wackiness of Jim wrestling an alligator or one of Margot’s family dressing as the zebra from the singing competition series she produces to destroy the wedding cake Jim so lovingly baked for Jenni’s ceremony.
Tone whiplash is very real for this one –– it’s a lot to take in for one movie and that can make things awkward. But perhaps not as awkward as one particular development that comes late in the film, is never really justified and never really convinces despite the talents of the people involved.
‘You’re Cordially Invited’: Performances
(L to R) Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
Ferrell and Witherspoon anchor the movie, but a talented ensemble help keep things light and funny.
Will Ferrell as Jim
Ferrell can do overly emotional weirdo with the best of them, and he’s fully committed here, whether he’s obsessing about his daughter’s big day or plotting revenge on the other wedding party.
Reese Witherspoon as Margot
Witherspoon is channeling a few characters she’s played before, partly Melanie from the aforementioned ‘Sweet Home Alabama.’
She’s typically great in the role, adept at both the humor and the heart portions, and has some excellent interactions with her family.
(L to R) Jack McBrayer, Jimmy Tatro, Meredith Hagner and Reese Witherspoon in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
Meredith Hagner and Jimmy Tatro as Neve and Dixon
Playing Margot’s sister, Hagner is reliably entertaining, even if her role is by design less funny than Witherspoon’s.
Tatro, meanwhile, gets even less to do as her husband-to-be, but does pull off some memorable moments and, partly thanks to how he’s script, makes Dixon more than just the lunkheaded exotic dancer Neve’s family believes him to be.
Geraldine Viswanathan as Jenni and Stony Blyden as Oliver
Viswanathan, as she was in the likes of ‘Blockers‘, is a highlight and plays well against Ferrell’s particular energy. She’s also game for anything.
Blyden’s character, Jenni’s own future husband, is less fleshed out and he makes less of an impact.
(L to R) Will Ferrell and Geraldine Viswanathan in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
Rory Scovel as Colton
Scovel is another reliable funny performer and playing Margot’s mildly misogynistic brother (who constantly refers to his wife as “the wife”), he nails the job.
Celia Weston as Flora
Weston plays the matriarch of Margot’s family, who has a complicated relationship with her daughter. She’s excellent in the role, one of the few in the cast who truly finds both the funny and the heartfelt sides beyond the leads.
Keyla Monterroso Mejia as Heather
Mejia, who, while her role is still relatively small, continues to impress –– she was superb in ‘One of Them Days’ –– and plays Jenni’s best friend/bridesmaid who agrees to plan her wedding, and does a terrible job.
The actor commits completely, bringing a frantic, funny energy to her performance.
Final Thoughts
(L to R) Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Glen Wilson/Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
Somewhat unbalanced and sometimes a little too forced in its attempts to find humor in the situations, ‘You’re Cordially Invited’ seems unlikely to find its way down the altar to the favorites lists of this type of comedy.
Still, it has a few decent laughs and we’re sorry it’s another comedy with big names skipping theaters and heading straight to streaming.
“Save the date. Prepare for chaos.”
63
1 hr 49 minJan 30th, 2025
What’s the plot of ‘You’re Cordially Invited’?
A bride (Geraldine Viswanathan) and her father (Will Ferrell) discover their dream wedding venue has been double booked for another bride (Meredith Hagner) and her wedding-planner sister (Reese Witherspoon), with hilarious consequences.
Who is in the cast of ‘You’re Cordially Invited’?
- Will Ferrell as Jim
- Reese Witherspoon as Margot
- Geraldine Viswanathan as Jenni
- Meredith Hagner as Neve
- Celia Weston as Flora
- Keyla Monterroso Mejia as Heather
- Leanne Morgan as Gwyneth
- Jimmy Tatro as Dixon
- Jack McBrayer as Leslie
- Lauren Holt as Abigail
- Stony Blyden as Oliver
(L to R) Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon in ‘You’re Cordially Invited’. Photo Credit: Prime Video. Copyright: © 2023 Amazon Content Services LLC.
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