C
Directed by Adam Shankman
Running Time: 1:42
Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual humor.

The Wedding Planner was a cute but predictable romantic comedy that takes a long time to come to the conclusion we all expect. Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey were cute, but even they couldn't save this tired script.

Jennifer Lopez plays Mary Fiore, a wedding planner. As she says, those who can't wed, plan. So she goes about her anal retentive life planning other people's weddings, and not able to find someone for herself. Until one day she is almost run over by a dumpster, but is saved by Dr. Steve Edison (McConaughey). Mary is finally in love, until she finds out that Steve is engaged to Fran Donolly (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras), who just happens to have hired Mary as her wedding planner. Well we all see where this is going, so there's no need to discuss the plot any further.

My first problem was why they made Lopez Italian. Here we have easily one of the most popular and famous Latinas in the world, and they make her Italian. I for one didn't really see any point to that. Her background really didn't have anything to do with her character. They could have made her Spanish, or Mexican, or Puerto Rican and still made the same movie. That bothers me. What is it about having her be Italian that made this movie any different?

The second problem is of course the total predictability of the movie. Everyone knows how its going to end, it's just a matter of getting there. And while at times the movie was funny or cute, there was a lot of times where it was just boring. In the movie Mary talks about signs that a marriage is going to dissolve quickly, from the color of the bridesmaid's dresses, to the song the couple chooses. But what about a guy who is days away from getting married, suddenly falling for a woman he just met? What are the chances that their relationship is going to work out? OK, so I'm reading outside the scope of the movie, but that was just another thing I thought of while I was waiting for the movie to end.

Lastly, none of the secondary characters were mean or nasty. If you have two people who want to be together but can't be, it usually helps if say his wife-to-be was an annoying shrew. But here, Dr. Steve's fiancée Fran was a cute, happy woman who didn't have any major flaws. And the guy that was in love with Mary was also just a cute, happy guy. I know I talk about predictability and I suppose it would have been even more predictable if someone had been annoying and someone the audience hated, but at the same time, it might have made the movie more entertaining to have someone to root against, rather than have an entire cast you liked.

On a happy note, Lopez and McConaughey were both very cute in the movie. While neither of their characters were very special, I still enjoyed watching them on screen. Obviously (to most) Lopez is a beautiful woman who most men would watch digging ditches, but I'm happy that they didn't capitalize on that by putting her into skimpy, revealing clothing just because they could. If anyone remembers I Know What You Did Last Summer, all they did was put Jennifer Love Hewitt into tight clothing, or put her into as little clothing as possible, because they knew the movie was horrible. At least here they kept the movie straight forward, and didn't try and cover up the lack of a script by putting Lopez into, or rather keeping clothes off of her.

So overall, The Wedding Planner was just OK. Jennifer and Matthew are fine actors, and good looking people, so that helps. But even they can't make up for a slow moving, entirely predictable movie.

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reviewed 01/26/01

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