Director: Stephen Elliot
Starring: Xavier Samuel, Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop, Laura Brent, Olivia Newton-John
Running time: 91 minutes
Certificate: 15
Synopsis: David (Samuel) and Mia (Laura Brent) meet on holiday and decide to get married, which prompts David to journeys to Australia days later for the wedding with his three best friends in tow. But once at the wedding, all hell breaks loose…
The first of two wedding themed comedies to be released in cinemas this summer, A FEW BEST MEN is not a particularly great start. Taking its cue from films like MEET THE PARENTS, this British-Australian co-production is a film that lacks both originality and laughs. Essentially, it’s just MEET THE PARENTS – but set in Australia, and with more then one clumsy character.
The plot? Two wooden lovers with little character development or personality decide to get married after spending a week together on an island. They go to get married at the wooden bride-to-be’s posh home in Australia, where wooden husband-to-be meets her uptight father. His uninteresting and unfunny friends wreak havoc at the wedding, resulting in much malarkey and conflict, before everything gets sorted at the end. Done!
Essentially it’s the performances that let this film down – the potential to be funny is there in Dean Craig’s script, which leaps along at a good enough pace (although some of the ‘comedic’ situations are just downright disgusting or creepy as opposed to funny). Leading man Xavier Samuel has about as much charisma or personality as a wall doing a Kristen Stewart impression, whilst his three friends – played by Kris Marshall, Kevin Bishop, and Tim Draxl – are so annoying and unlikeable that its impossible to find their antics amusing in the slightest (Remember when Kris Marshall was funny? I do. I miss those days). However, it’s the inclusion of Rebel Wilson (otherwise known as the least funny woman working in movies today) that’s the real letdown. Her performance is incredibly crude and unamusing, and every time she appears, she makes you want to punch the screen! Why does this woman keep getting work? Maybe she’s just really cheap.
There are one or two laughs to be had with A FEW BEST MEN, but don’t expect many more. The script may have had gags at some point, but the ineffectual cast kill them stone dead with performances that are over-the-top and groan inducing. Olivia Newton-John gets some laughs, but that’s only because it’s Olivia Newton-John playing against form. If it had been a more seasoned comedy actress playing her role, it’s likely there would have been no laughs to be had at all. My advice? Avoid this stinking howler and wait for THE WEDDING VIDEO. The trailer for that film was funnier then the entirety of this one, that’s for sure.
A FEW BEST MEN arrives in UK cinemas 31st August.
