Daughter of the Bride (2023)

Daughter of the Bride (2023)

 2/10

Starring

Marcia Gay Harden

Halston Sage

Andrew Richardson

Cara Santana

 

Directed by Annette Haywood-Carter

 

The concept of this film lost me from the start. It took me a while to finally grasp the idea behind Daughter of the Bride.

I decided to watch it because any time I see a movie with "bride" in the title, I want to watch it. Father of the Bride (1991) brought me so much happiness growing up. Unfortunately, one thing this film lacked was proper directing. The scenes felt forced, and it’s obvious right from the start. The younger actors didn’t seem to fit naturally into their roles or with each other, especially in dialogue. The quality of their acting is worse than what you’d expect from even a B-movie. The older actors delivered as seasoned professionals would, but I couldn’t get past how terrible Halston Sage was.

She acted like one of those characters in Nickelodeon children’s shows that you know not to take seriously. All she needed to do was stop forcing it and act naturally. It’s a bad sign when you feel you could do a better job than the actor on screen.

The plot revolves around the close bond between a mother and daughter, which has endured from childhood to adulthood. Their relationship wasn’t the problem—everything else was. Kate (Sage) sees an older man helping a younger man start a car and is impressed by the way he carries himself. On a whim, she hands him her mother’s phone number and doesn’t think twice about it. Six weeks later, they’re engaged, and Kate is freaking out because she never expected things to move so fast—or even get to this point.

A Father of the Bride (1991) situation unfolds, with Kate panicking over her mother marrying a man she barely knows. Since the film lacked substance or enough material to carry the plot, they added another love story for Kate, which runs parallel to her mother’s wedding plans. Unfortunately, Kate’s love story is just as weak as her acting.

I’m especially critical because Father of the Bride is one of my favorite movies from the 1990s. When I was young, I didn’t even realize it was a remake of a 1950s film starring Spencer Tracy—I just knew I loved it. Growing up on the Banks family and then seeing the sequel felt like a perfect continuation. Father of the Bride (1991) and its 1995 sequel were my happy places as a child.

So when they released that disastrous remake in 2022 with a cast full of annoying characters, I was genuinely offended.