Shotgun Wedding packs more action than romance
If people assume that Jennifer Lopez has already headlined all kinds of rom-coms, then she is out to prove them wrong. Shotgun Wedding showcases the singer-actor’s mean fighting skills along with her unbelievably well-toned abs. And yes, Lopez, who essays the role of Darcy, establishes that she is still Jenny from the block as she wields a heavy machine-gun, lobs grenades and ziplines across a Philippine island in a flouncy wedding gown.
Combining action with romance and comedy makes the movie entertaining even though there are hardly any surprises regarding how the movie will end. Lopez is ably aided by Josh Duhamel, who plays her fiancé and “groomzilla” Tom. The movie also puts together an impressive supporting cast that includes Jennifer Coolidge. She is currently basking in much-deserved accolades in the second innings of her career. She has received widespread appreciation as a comedienne apart from winning an Emmy and Golden Globe award for her role in The White Lotus.
The movie kicks off with the wedding rehearsal at a secluded Philippine island resort that brings the families of Darcy and Tom together. Some oddball relatives, dangerous acquaintances and unwanted guests show up. In an attention-grabbing stunt, Darcy’s former fiance Sean (Lenny Kravitz) arrives for the wedding in a helicopter. However, it’s no secret that the wedding ceremony does not go as planned. In fact, the movie’s trailer has already given enough hints about what all goes wrong. Differences resurface between the bride and groom while the guests are taken hostage by pirates. Mess and mayhem unfold before the vows are exchanged.
The bride in her elaborate wedding dress and the groom in his nifty tux swing into action. Together, they create some thrilling moments in this action comedy. Lopez’s dress especially adds to the drama. She removes its layers and pairs the dress up with boots to be able to fight more comfortably as the armed pirates continue their attack. Yet, the actors, both good-looking and blessed with perfect bodies, fail to whip up enough chemistry between them.
The last-minute conflict — Tom being too much of a perfectionist while Darcy is having cold feet — does not seem convincing. Though Lopez, with her vast experience of handling rom-coms, manages to engage the audience, Darcy’s dilemmas are not properly explored. The audience does not get to understand her fears. But then feel-good rom-coms rarely dig deep into that.
One of the film’s glaring shortcomings is the failure to explore Coolidge’s comic talent to add more light-hearted moments to the narrative. As Tom’s simple-hearted mother Carol, she is fun but doesn’t have much to do. That could be because the movie seems to rely more on action sequences than comedy to hold the audience’s attention.
