Our Family Wedding – A 20th Century Fox Release

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/ourfamilywedding/

DVD Release Date: July 13th, 2010

Rated PG for language may offend

Running time: 1o2 minutes

Rick Famuyiwa (dir.)

Wayne Conley (screenplay)

Malcolm Spellman (screenplay)

Rick Famuyiwa (screenplay)

Wayne Conley (story)

Christophe Beck (music)

Forest Whitaker as Brad Boyd

America Ferrera as Lucia Ramirez

Carlos Mencia as Miguel Ramirez

Regina King as Angela

Lance Gross as Marcus Boyd

Our reviews below:

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Our Family Wedding DVD Review By John C.

** (out of 4)

Our Family Wedding is a fairly agreeable, if totally unoriginal, reworking of a classic romantic-comedy formula.  The story of a Latino woman marrying an African-American man, much to the dismay of their culturally singular fathers, clearly borrows, sometimes scene-for-scene, of other, better movies like Meet the Parents and My Big Fat Greek Wedding.

With an already bloated 102-minute running time, the film falls apart when it goes for all-out slapstick comedy.  One minute we’ve got a cake fight, the next a sweet exchange between two characters, and then there’s a goat gobbling blue pills.  It’s as if nobody knew exactly what type of movie they were making.  If a good 20-minutes had been cut, then this would have been a slight, but enjoyable look at cultural differences.  As is, it’s mildly worth a look, but almost strictly for a Sunday afternoon.

The DVD includes deleted and extended scenes, as well as a making-of featurette and a gag reel.

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Our Family Wedding DVD Review By Erin V.

**1/4 (out of 4)

In Our Family Wedding, Lucia (America Ferrera) and Marcus (Lance Gross) are getting married – all there is left to do is meet each other’s families.  When they do however, havoc ensues as neither side approves of their children’s choices.  This leads to all kinds of bickering as their parents try to plan the wedding together.

A comedic-film about interracial marriages, Our Family Wedding succeeds at times in what it’s trying to be, but often – especially nearing the end – just delves into the tired old ‘everything going wrong at a wedding, complete with smashed wedding cakes’ plot.  Still, if you’re fond of the cast and like this kind of comedy, rent it.  It has it’s sweet moments, and is far from the worst movie of the year.

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Our Family Wedding DVD Review By Nicole

**3/4 (out of 4)

As summer approaches, lots of people have weddings on their minds.  So it is a perfect time for the DVD release of Our Family Wedding.  This movie tells the story of two families, and the challenges they face as they merge into one.  Marcus is a young doctor of African-American heritage.  Lucia is a former law student of Latin American heritage.  When Marcus and Lucia introduce themselves to each other’s families, they face racial tension, as well as cultural and denominational differences (Protestantism vs. Catholicism), which bother their parents and grandparents.  So Marcus and Lucia decide to combine their respective cultures into a wedding that will please both families.

Our Family Wedding is not completely consistent regarding it’s genre.  A scene near the end involving a goat on anti-E.D. pills may have been amusing, but didn’t fit in a movie that relies mostly on dialogue.  My Big Fat Greek Wedding, starring Nia Vardalos, is a similar movie that was better executed.  That being said, I still really enjoyed Our Family Wedding.  It is nice to see a sweet movie that cherishes marriage and family.  Without too much objectionable content, Our Family Wedding is a movie that can be enjoyed by anyone from teens to seniors.

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Our Family Wedding DVD Review By Maureen

**1/2 (out of 4)

There’s a saying that goes something like this “if you try to please everybody you end up pleasing nobody.”  That’s basically the premise of Our Family Wedding.  When Marcus (Lance Gross) a young African-American medical school graduate and Lucia (America Ferrera) a Mexican-American law student decide to surprise their respective out-of-town families by announcing their wedding plans they quickly learn what the word compromise really means.  The two ethnic cultures clash with the two Dads having particular trouble accepting each other.

There are a lot of really funny scenes between the two Dads, Brad Boyd (Forrest Whitaker) and Miguel Ramirez (Carlos Mencia).  There are also a lot of sweet touching scenes between different characters.  There is some drama and tension at one point between the young couple.  There are also some ridiculously over the top cheap laugh scenes involving a goat and some blue pills.  The problem is just that Marcus and Lucia had to realize that you can’t please everybody, this movie tries too hard to be a romantic-comedy, light drama and slapstick comedy all at the same time.  It just didn’t work as well as it could have.

Overall I liked Our Family Wedding.  The characters are likable enough and there is a sweetness to the story.  If only it had focused on the main story and left out the over the top gag scenes that served only as distractions.

Our Family Wedding is worth at least a rental especially if you are a fan of any of the actors or find the story premise appealing.

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Our Family Wedding DVD Review By Tony

** (out of 4)

The best thing that can be said about Our Family Wedding is that, some forty years after Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, a movie dealing with interracial marriage can be banal.  Mexican-American Lucia (America Ferrera) is marrying African-American Marcus (Lance Gross).  Her traditional Catholic family is led by Miguel (Carlos Mencia), who tows impounded cars for a living.  His father Brad (Forest Whitaker) is a smooth-talking late night radio host who likes dating women half his age.  Aside from the personality clash between the fathers, the conflict between their families is superficial, as they plan a wedding that both families can live with.

There are a few good laughs along the way, especially in the preenactment of possible seating arrangements at the reception, but in general the film is typical sitcom material, nothing special.

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Consensus: Our Family Wedding is a fine movie, but with an uneven tone and bloated running time, it feels as if it could have been better.  As is, it’s mildly worth an afternoon rental. **1/4 (Out of 4)