You're Cordially Invited
Short Take: The phrase comes from the film industry, originally, and it means a short bit of recording or “something that only takes a short time,” especially if a longer version may be done later.
Short Take review: A short review of a film with potential discussion points
⭐️ ⭐️ (out of 5 stars)
Synopsis: Your wedding day should be the most special of moments in anyone’s life. Yet, all who have been part of planning these nuptials have to acknowledge that something inevitably goes wrong at every wedding. What is normally small and insignificant is taken to a whole new level when two weddings are accidentally booked at the same venue for the same day. Jim (Will Ferrell) is looking forward to his only daughter’s (Geraldine Viswanathan) special day while Margot (Reese Witherspoon) has been tasked with planning the celebration for her younger sister (Meredith Hagner), except when the wedding venue double books the ceremonies, over-the-top situations occur as both families do their best to make the best of an awkward situation and try to disrupt the other group's special day.
Review: Writer/director Nicholas Stoller (Storks, Neighbors) brings in every element of a typical slapstick, family, romantic comedy and attempts to deliver them in record time. What would be a normal day at the cinema with Will Ferrell as it contains pratfalls, inappropriate sexual innuendo, extensive family tension, unexpected romantic possibilities, enough f-bombs to make Quintin Tarantino blush and even alligator wrestling. Throughout the years, many directors have struck cinematic gold with this combination. Still, this outing tries to do too much in a short period. As things escalate too fast and chemistry fails to manifest between Witherspoon and Ferrell, this train wreck flies out of the station at breakneck speed. It never lets up as it explodes on screen multiple times and never truly gives the audience time to get on board with the comedic journey.
You're Cordially Invited is one of those films that might be worth missing this year (RSVP: No) unless you are a glutton for punishment and enjoy watching a steady stream of wedding disasters occur before your eyes. Did I mention there is alligator wrestling in this movie?
Reel Dialogue: The beauty of marriage
The beauty of the setting in You're Cordially Invited is not the only Eden-like quality that opens the door to considering the inception of mankind and marriage. This film does more by capturing the horror of Genesis chapter three, as it quickly shows humanity's downfall and the potential horrors that can ensue after the wedding day.
From the beginning, marriage was meant to bring humanity's physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects together. It shows how two people can live out the words stated in the first book of the Bible: ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.’
The beautiful gift of marriage originates in God's story and how this human bond needs a lifetime of commitment and adaptation to grow. Even with the excitement of the ‘wedding day,’ the real magic occurs as a couple grows closer throughout the years. Each marriage relationship in the film depicts the peaks and valleys of this connection and the importance of investment in the lives of husbands and wives.
You're Cordially Invited may put humankind off this beautiful connection. At the same time, the Bible brings us back to the hope and wonder that can be found in God’s original plan for man and woman.
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. - Genesis 2:24
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