“Wedding Daze”

Jason Biggs
Isla Fisher
Joe Pantoliano
Joanna Gleason
Edward Herrmann
Michael Weston
Mark Conseulos
Matt Malloy
Margo Martindale
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Jay O. Sanders
Heather Goldenhersh
Audra Blaser

R           92min           2007

After a hilariously disastrous first engagement, the last thing in the world Anderson (American Pie’s Jason Biggs) needs is a new fiancée. So when, on a whim, he proposes to a vivacious stranger (Wedding Crasher’s Isla Fisher), there’s only one problem – she says yes! What follows is nothing short of outright insanity as there are disapproving parents; neurotic friends and an ill-advised prison break to deal with before the big day arrives – if it ever does! Make no mistake; this uproariously over-the-top comedy shows finally, why “love” is truly a four-letter word!

“Wedding Daze” is a train wreck of a film. The story is over the top and implausible. For the most part this film is just plain stupid.

This film is all over the place. The acting and the character are unbelievable. I can believe that you could ask someone in a restaurant to marry you and them saying yes; but it’s the rest of the film where it hit jumps the shark. The characters that make the parents are so strange that you wonder how these Biggs’ and Fishers’ character ever came out so normal.

“Wedding Daze” is a film that gives validity that Hollywood is creatively bankrupted. Every character in this film does out of character things for the sake of the film. A romantic comedy is about finding the funny in the situation; this film tried to hard to make you laugh. They failed miserably.

I feel sorry for all the actors in this film. It was as if they took it for the paycheck. So amazing character actors in parts so uncharacteristic. The only good thing I can say about the film is that Edward Herrmann’s character extra curricular activities was as shocking as his reveal in “The Lost Boys.”

“Wedding Daze” is a bare DVD. It only has deleted scenes and an alternate beginning. The only movie preview is for “The Comebacks”.

I give it 1/5.

“Strays”

Vin Diesel
Joey Deido
F. Valentino Morales
Mike Epps
T.K. Kirkland
Darnell Williams
Suzanne Lanza

R           105min           1997

Frustrated by the repetitious grind of one-night stands and aimless hustling, drug dealer Rick (Vin Diesel) is looking for meaning and intimacy in his life. Like his testosterone-tweaked buddies, Rick is a “stray” – lacking a traditional family structure and wrestling subconsciously with his father’s absence.

Until Heather enters his life… Suddenly Rick sees the possibility of a committed relationship and the life he has longed for. However, trying to assimilate into Heather’s world is not easy. Rick takes heat from his perpetually adolescent and unmotivated cohorts. Though the chemistry between the couple is immediately charged, Rick’s street manner and volatile aggression flare, threatening to extinguish their relationship before it begins.

It was a good effort by Vin Diesel being his feature film debut. I think he did a good job as the writer, star, director, and producer of this film. “Strays” show a multitude of level in the character that most first time writer rarely capture. To see where Vin Diesel started out its amazing the way he career has turned out.

I think even in this film that he’s capable of handling drama but his frame prevents that. He is too overpowering physical capture a dramatic role. This is one of the pit falls of Hollywood because given the chance he could pull the dramatic off.

One thing that “Strays” did to surprise me was that it had Mike Epps in it. I never knew Mike Epps was in a movie with Vin Diesel. It creates one of those amazing “gem” links in Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. For one of his first film Epps does a great job and the making of in an informative making of.

The making of tells much of the behind the scene things it took to get “Stray” made. It has a lot of interview material from the cast and producers. I lot of the reflection by Vin Diesel makes you appreciate the film even more. It is about 45 minutes long but worth it to watch.

“Strays” is a movie preview heavy DVD. There is an making of featurette. The majority of the space is held for movie previews; they are “King of California”, “Smiley Faces”, “The Amateurs”, “Blonde and Blonder”, “Sex and Breakfast”, “Day Zero”, “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints”,“The Contract, “The Proposition”, “Journey to the End of Night”, “A Little Trip to Heaven”, “Broken”, “Guy X”, “When Nietzsche Wept”, “Paris Je T’aime”, “Big Nothing”, “Relative Strangers”, and “They Boys and Girls Guide to Getting Down”.

I give it 2/5.