'You’re cordially invited' movie review: Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell-starrer is not particularly inviting

The film could have been a heartwarming comedy about parents, children, and extended families but the scenes run long and the laughs don’t come good when they should

Film: You’re cordially invited  (Amazon Prime)
Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Will Ferrell, Geraldine Viswanathan, Meredith
Hagner, Celia Weston, Jimmy Tatro, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Leanne
Morgan
Director: Nicholas Stoller
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 109 min

Writer/Director Nicholas Stoller’s “You’re Cordially Invited” is a rehashed comedy for the most part, but there’s a modicum of warmth to make it just about bearable.

Jim (Ferrell), a widower whose only daughter Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan) tells him that she has gotten engaged to her boyfriend Oliver (Stoney Blyden). Both are very young and for Jim whose life has revolved mainly around Jenni since her mother died, makes a big hoo-ha over the unexpected engagement. Finally he succumbs to emotion and agrees to sponsor the wedding which is to happen at Palmetto House, a venue on a tiny, remote island where Jim wed Jenni’s mother decades earlier.

A scheduling mess-up spoils the day as the nuptials of another couple, the secretly pregnant Neve (Meredith Hagner) and her exotic dancer fiancé Dixon (Jimmy Tatro), finds it way into the books. Jim goes ballistic at Neve’s older sister Margot (Witherspoon), a TV executive who came up with the idea of doing the event at Palmetto House because Margot and Neve’s mother and grandmother grew up there.

There’s room for some fun to be had but two older adults behaving like vengeful kids is not kosher in my book. “You’re Cordially Invited” is mildly risqué with f-bombs and cringe comedy. The film could have been a heartwarming comedy about parents, children, and extended families but the scenes run long and the laughs don’t come good when they should.

There’s no finesse here. Some of the slapstick set-pieces play out as absurd and unlikely. Unconvincing contrivances try hard to conjure tension and keep the shenanigans coming but it makes the movie feel unfocused and at odds with itself. There’s a level of desperation involved in the dialogue where four-letter words are frequent. This film may be barely likeable but its no fun.

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!