Father of the Bride 3-ish (2020)

Father of the Bride 3-ish (2020)

6/10

Starring

Steve Matin

Diane Keaton

Kimberly Williams-Paisley

Kieran Culkin

Florence Pugh

Ben Platt

 

Directed and Written by Nancy Meyers

 

I don’t know if it was the nostalgia, but I loved seeing the gang back together again. The last time we saw the whole crew was back in Father of the Bride II (1995). Twenty-five years later, we have this warm homage to the classic '90s movie. Even though Father of the Bride (1991) was a remake, for me, the remake beats the original—which is one of those rare occasions that hardly happens.

This Part 3 (ish) was fun. It is twenty-five minutes long and happens on a Zoom call. The Zoom call brings the whole family together, with some newly introduced cast members, such as older Megan Banks (Florence Pugh) and older George Banks-MacKenzie (Annie and Bryan’s son, played by Ben Platt). This takes place during the COVID pandemic, and George Banks (Steve Martin) is overreacting, as you would expect. Nina (Diane Keaton) forces him to stay in the guest room because of his hyperactive behavior. Also on the Zoom call are Annie (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), Matty (Kieran Culkin), and Bryan (George Newbern), all reprising their roles along with Martin and Keaton. On the call, they discuss the pandemic and the reason for the gathering, which was odd because it was Matty who initiated it. If you know this movie, there’s one more person you’d expect to see in the cast list—and yes, Martin Short reprises his role as Frank, joining the Zoom call as well.

In the end, this short is a treat for lovers of the movie and was created to raise money for the pandemic.

Growing up in Nigeria in the mid-'90s, Channels Television had this wonderful weekend idea of feeding us kids with four movies in the afternoon: Father of the Bride (1991), Father of the Bride II (1995), Casper (1995), and Jumanji (1995). Now grown up, out of the four, the one that still remains a classic for me is Father of the Bride (1991). There is something magical about this movie—watching the family come together, seeing the introduction of Bryan as the man Annie wants to marry, and George losing his mind. This short brought back warm memories of those days—seeing George go off his rocker when he sees the mansion his in-laws live in and the amount of money they can pull. Then there’s the warmth of the musical score that this movie delivers, which is also used in this short. I can never forget those tunes—they’re ingrained in my memory. The first Father of the Bride (1991) lives forever as one of the best films of my childhood.

The second part of the movie, Father of the Bride II (1995), was fun too—seeing the whole gang back together again. The movie did its best to pull on the heartstrings of the original classic, and in the end, it was an enjoyable ride, just like this short.