“Lives Up to Its Name”

“Hotshots” looks at a movie!

The Big Wedding is like a French farce, only without the madcap pacing, which is halfway understandable, because it is adapted from a 2006 French comedy, Mon Frere Se Marie, which means “My Brother Is Getting Married.”

Those French sure have a way with words.

Anyway, speaking of the pacing, this adaptation starts off slow, but then really takes off, which might be explained by the fact that it was scheduled to be released in 2012, but came out in 2013.

The impressive cast includes Robert De Niro, Katherine Heigl, Diane Keaton, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Susan Sarandon, and Robin Williams, although Williams sticks out like a sore priest, which is what he plays.

Here is the plot: Don and Ellie were married for 20 years, but they have been divorced for the last 10 years.  Their adopted son, Alejandro, who was born in Colombia, is getting married, and his birth mother is coming to the wedding.

However, the mother is very religious and conservative, and so Alejandro asks Don and Ellie to pretend that they are still married.

No problem, right? In fact, their own daughter tells them, “So, just pretend to be married for the weekend.  What’s the big deal?”

Well, as the title says, it is going to be a big wedding on Don’s estate, Don’s girlfriend Bebe is living there with him, his own birth son Jared is 29 and still a virgin, and the groom’s mother is also bringing her pretty daughter to the wedding, who falls for Jared and keeps trying to seduce him.

Wow, this has all the makings of a French farce, doesn’t it? The French part we get, the farce coming up.

Now just add equal parts of Don’s being a successful sculptor of what could be called shockingly erotic subjects, as well as having a very healthy libido; the bride’s parents both having a previous history with Don and Ellie; Don’s daughter is estranged from him because of a previous indiscretion; and she has her own personal problems in her own relationship which result in two big surprises that are going to affect her.

As somebody always says, you couldn’t make this stuff up, but of course they did.

The Big Wedding lives up to its name with a big cast, a wedding, and even more, much more.

I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”