There are some touching bits of sentimentality here, as a dad (Steve Martin) tries to cope with his 22-year-old daughter (Kimberley Williams) returning from a trip to Rome to announce she's getting married. The flashbacks to her childhood in his mind, his trying to reconcile with the fact that he's no longer the man in his little girl's life, and his conflicted feelings about the young man who will be his son-in-law tug the heartstrings, even when the film is constantly endangering those feelings by being too cheesy. Diane Keaton is a welcome addition to the cast as the mother, and she does what she can, but it's a pretty shallow role (after all, this ain't Parents of the Bride).
The biggest issue, however, is that too much of the film is devoted to the out-of-control wedding spending, all at the hands of an effete wedding coordinator (Martin Short). I don't know what accent Short was going for here, but his character wasn't at all funny to me, and quickly grew tiresome to watch. Plus, you essentially have wealthy folks in San Marino (living in gigantic house, running a factory, tooling around in a convertible) worrying about the wedding costs and how it will appear to their new in-laws from Bel-Air (who own a mansion with servants, have a shocking amount of money even in their checking account, etc).
It's just a lighthearted comedy and not everything needs to be self-aware, but there just wasn't a lot of charm in Martin's character trying to reign in expenses while Short's absurdly ratcheted them up, with Keaton and Williams just nodding their heads. Other elements of comedy, like Martin being attacked by the in-laws Dobermans and falling into a pool, or the little kids driving cars as valets, just seemed lame to me. There is a feeling at the center of this which is undeniable, but the script and direction needed defter hands.
The biggest issue, however, is that too much of the film is devoted to the out-of-control wedding spending, all at the hands of an effete wedding coordinator (Martin Short). I don't know what accent Short was going for here, but his character wasn't at all funny to me, and quickly grew tiresome to watch. Plus, you essentially have wealthy folks in San Marino (living in gigantic house, running a factory, tooling around in a convertible) worrying about the wedding costs and how it will appear to their new in-laws from Bel-Air (who own a mansion with servants, have a shocking amount of money even in their checking account, etc).
It's just a lighthearted comedy and not everything needs to be self-aware, but there just wasn't a lot of charm in Martin's character trying to reign in expenses while Short's absurdly ratcheted them up, with Keaton and Williams just nodding their heads. Other elements of comedy, like Martin being attacked by the in-laws Dobermans and falling into a pool, or the little kids driving cars as valets, just seemed lame to me. There is a feeling at the center of this which is undeniable, but the script and direction needed defter hands.