The Wedding Ringer

"I want my real life to be as fun as the one I made up!"

Doug Harris (Gad), a tax attorney, is getting married in 10 days.  He believes his fiance Gretchen (Cuoco-Sweeting) is out of his league and is doing everything possible to make her happy.  But he has a big problem, he doesn't have a best man or any groomsmen.  Their wedding planner, Edmundo (Serricchio), sends Doug to The Best Man Inc (TBM).

Jimmy Callahan (Hart) the owner of TBM agrees to pose as Doug's best friend / best man Bic Mitchum.  He also agrees to provide the impossible: 7 groomsmen with detailed backgrounds, in 10 days.  With the deadline fast approaching Jimmy and his assistant Doris (Lewis) start screening potential groomsmen and settle on a colorful collection of characters.  Can they convince Gretchen's disapproving father Ed (Howard) and the rest of the wedding guests that their friendships are real?



This year it seems that most people I know are either getting married or having babies, so we watch a lot of wedding movies / TV shows.  Even though it received mixed reviews, I enjoy Kevin Hart and Josh Gad and decided to give it a chance.

The plot is basically a raunchy version Hitch (an awkward guy gets relationship pointers from a smooth guy) plus I Love You, Man (a loner needs a best man / groomsmen).  The good news, Hart and Gad have great chemistry.  You truly believe they are becoming friends as the film progresses.  They are best together, especially in the scene pictured above when they crash a wedding and dance together.  There are funny, laugh out loud moments... but often the comedy veers towards raunchy over-the-top moments that take away from the film.  The groomsmen as a whole are entertaining and each get a fake personality that they fully embrace.  Ken Howard is overbearing as the father of the bride, but he is the reason for the football scene (featuring retired football stars Joe Namath, John Riggins, and Ed "Too Tall" Jones).  The women in the film don't get to do much and Cloris Leachman is sorely underused.

It is a mindless comedy that has some great moments, but isn't overly memorable.

The Wedding Ringer (2015) 101 minutes
Rating: R for crude and sexual content, language throughout, some drug use and brief graphic nudity
Director: Jeremy Garelick
Starring: Kevin Hart as Jimmy Callahan / Bic Mitchum
Josh Gad as Doug Harris
Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting as Gretchen Palmer
Alan Ritchson as Kip / Carew
Cloris Leachman as Grandma
Mimi Rogers as Lois Palmer
Ken Howard as Ed Palmer
Affion Crockett as Reggie / Drysdale
Jenifer Lewis as Doris Jenkins
Olivia Thirlby as Allison Palmer
Jorge Garcia as Lurch / Garvey
Aaron Takahashi as Endo / Rambis
Dan Gill as Bornstein / Dickerson
Corey Holcomb as Otis / Alzado
Colin Kane as Fitzgibbons / Plunkett
Ignacio Serricchio as Edmundo