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‘Father of the Bride’ Review: A Remake With a Cuban Twist

A Cuban American family walks down the aisle, treading carefully along the line separating tradition and tomorrow.

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By Concepción de León

The protagonist of “Father of the Bride” would probably bristle to hear this new romantic comedy referred to as a “Latinx” remake of the classic, which was last revived in 1991, with Steve Martin in the role. This time a Cuban American family is at the center of the story and Billy Herrera (Andy Garcia) is the father who must confront his daughter’s coming wedding.

Herrera, as he often likes to remind his children, emigrated from Cuba with little more than a few cents in his pocket and managed to build a thriving architectural firm. He has expectations for his children and their futures. When his daughter and golden child Sofia (Adria Arjona), announces she is marrying Adan (Diego Boneta), a Mexican man who does not fit the macho image Billy has always imagined, he must contend with the ways in which Sofia’s vision for her life differs from his own.

The film, directed by Gaz Alazraki and written by Matt Lopez, delivers on authenticity — using actors who speak Spanish fluently and working in cultural nuances rather than relying on the broad stroke representation of Latinos we have come to expect from Hollywood. Gloria Estefan plays Billy’s wife, Ingrid, who is fed up with his rigid ways; Isabela Merced is Sofia’s sister Cora, a free-spirited fashion designer; and the comedian Chloe Fineman plays the wacky wedding planner. Most of the film’s humor comes from her hamhanded attempts at adapting to the culture and language of the Herreras.

But there is little other comic relief to leaven the exploration of generational rifts between immigrants and their children, which are fueled in part by machismo and elitism. Diversity, also, is an issue, with an all-white Latino cast,” except for a brief appearance by the reggaeton star Ozuna. Still, “Father of the Bride” shows the sort of rich cultural representation that can happen when people from the cultures being represented are enlisted to tell their own stories.

Father of the Bride Rated PG-13. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. Watch on HBO Max.

Concepción de León is a writer and book editor based in New York. More about Concepción de León

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Andy garcia and gloria estefan in hbo max’s ‘father of the bride’: film review.

In the latest feature adaptation of a 1949 novel, a Cuban American couple in Miami put their divorce on hold in order to plan their daughter’s wedding.

By Sheri Linden

Sheri Linden

Senior Copy Editor/Film Critic

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Billy Herrera, a successful architect and the title character of the newest iteration of Father of the Bride , is played with terrific comic understatement by Andy Garcia . He has some of the gruffness of Spencer Tracy in the hit 1950 movie of the same name — the first screen translation of Edward Streeter’s novel — and none of the mugging that Steve Martin brought to the 1991 remake. But like both their characters, and pretty much every dad in every American comedy ever made, Billy needs enlightening about the way things are in the world today. When he says, “I came to this country with nothing,” which he does every chance he gets, his wife and daughters roll their eyes and wait for the moment of self-mythologizing grandeur to pass.

Father of the Bride

Release date: Thursday, June 16

Cast: Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona, Isabela Merced, Diego Boneta, Chloe Fineman

Director: Gaz Alazraki

Screenwriter: Matt Lopez; based on the novel by Edward Streeter

As with its predecessors (each of which received sequel treatment), the HBO Max film is the gentlest of satires, a reassuring portrait of an ultra-bridgeable generation gap and a bland ribbing of the pomp and circumstance required to maintain membership in the upper middle class. Setbacks and conflicts notwithstanding, we know where the hijinks are headed, and the stakes never feel high — did we ever really care whether the nuptials went off without a hitch, even when the bride-to-be was Elizabeth Taylor?

But screenwriter Matt Lopez ( Promised Land ) tweaks the premise to give the father’s POV more emotional weight than standard-issue concerns about the cost of floral arrangements and the ache over losing his little girl: Billy’s own marriage is on the rocks. And director Gaz Alazraki (whose feature We Are the Nobles was a record-breaking hit in his native Mexico) ups the oomph with the Miami setting and a soundtrack of classic cuts by the likes of Celia Cruz and Benny Moré, as well as an onscreen performance by rapper Ozuna and a jazz-inflected score by the great Terence Blanchard. The celebratory mood in the closing-credits sequence looks like actual fun, for characters and cast alike, ending this trip down the aisle on the upbeat and keeping the schmaltz to a minimum.

As the story opens, the business-focused Billy and his fed-up wife, Ingrid ( Gloria Estefan ), are about to tell their girls that they’re divorcing — the split being her idea, not his. But when older daughter Sofia ( Adria Arjona , of Morbius and Irma Vep ), a newly minted attorney, arrives from New York with news that she’s engaged, they put their announcement on hold so as not to cast a pall over the wedding plans, and pretend that everything is the same as it ever was. Cue Billy’s bedtime retreat to the couch in his office, pillows in hand.

And cue the wedding planner. When Martin Short left over-the-top quaking in the dust with his extravagant turn as Franck in the 1991 version, the term was “wedding coordinator,” deceptively suggesting a more collaborative approach to the nuptials. Whatever you call them, if wedding planners in real life are as insane and endlessly insulting as their movie counterparts, wouldn’t there be far more elopements?

Here it’s Saturday Night Live ’s Chloe Fineman who’s called upon to overplay, and also to torture the Spanish language, both of which she does with gusto. Her Natalie Vance is, like Franck, a sketch-character bull in a china shop of human beings. It’s a strained bit of shtick, but at least in this go-round we’re not made to watch smart people eagerly buy into the snobby insults without batting an eye. In a nice touch, Sofia’s younger sister, the spunky and artistic Cora (Isabela Merced), grabs a bowl of popcorn, the better to enjoy the back-and-forth between clueless Natalie and the Herreras as they try to contain their disbelief. As to why there’s no time to search for someone more trustworthy, the screenplay offers a handy reason: There’s a tight deadline for the wedding because Sofia and her fiancé, fellow attorney Adan (Diego Boneta), will soon begin working for a nonprofit in his native Mexico.

There’s a stiffness to the early going as Alazraki lays out the sitcom setup. It’s Garcia’s dry delivery, and the notes of tension between Billy and Ingrid, that cut through the flat efficiency. Things gradually loosen up, especially after Billy and Ingrid meet the in-laws. Adan’s father, Hernan Castillo (Pedro Damián), is a hail-fellow-well-met gazillionaire, a brewery magnate who swoops into Miami accompanied by Adan’s mother (Laura Harring), his young, second wife (Macarena Achaga) and their infant child, impressing Ingrid with how grown-up they all are about the situation.

In earlier tellings of this story, the mother of the bride was little more than a calm counterweight to her husband’s dramatics. Though that’s still her chief function here, the screenplay gives her a backstory, however slight, and Estefan convincingly balances the character’s natural warmth and the cold wall she’s put up against Billy to protect herself from further disappointment.

A brief, first-rate scene finds the Cuban Herreras and the Mexican Castillos speaking Spanish, and something comes alive in the characters and the actors that makes you wish there were more such exchanges. Most of the best lines in the movie go to Garcia, who makes them sing. The way Billy spits out his initial impression of Adan, with “his fake bohemian vegetarian soft voice” is a laugh-out-loud delight. His slow-burn skeptical reactions are funny too, especially compared with the film’s broad-strokes swipes at humor, and so are the unspoken thoughts you can imagine when he’s trying to keep his exasperation in check.

The camerawork by Igor Jadue-Lillo is strongest in its glances at the waterfront glitter of Miami and in the closing section, when nature cancels the two families’ best-laid plans and everyone, even the wedding planner, shifts into high-gear improvisation to save the big day. At an earlier celebration, the “intimate” engagement party that the ostentatious Hernan throws on his yacht, the DP captures an odd image: Billy stands by himself on the ship’s deck and the wind steals his hat. Alazraki lets the moment play out for precisely the right length of time, and Garcia’s response is perfect. Billy may be stubbornly old-school, but he’s learning to go with the flow.

Full credits

Distributors: Warner Bros. Pictures and HBO Max Production company: Plan B Entertainment Cast: Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona, Isabela Merced, Diego Boneta, Chloe Fineman, Ana Fabrega, Enrique Murciano, Laura Harring, Ruben Rabasa, Marta Velasco, Pedro Damián, Matt Walsh, Macarena Achaga Director: Gaz Alazraki Screenwriter: Matt Lopez Based on the novel by Edward Streeter Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Paul Michael Perez Executive producers: Brad Pitt, Andy Garcia, Ted Gidlow, Jesse Ehrman Director of photography: Igor Jadue-Lillo Production designer: Kim Jennings Costume designer: Caroline Eselin-Schaefer Editor: Jon Poll Composer: Terence Blanchard Casting: Marisol Roncali, Chelsea Ellis Bloch

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Father of the Bride review: Andy García goes full Dadzilla in bright, fizzy 2022 update

The classic comedy gets a sweet, inclusive reboot.

A dad is a dad is a dad, whether he lands in 1950 , 1991 , or 2022. Like Spencer Tracy and Steve Martin before him, Andy García 's Billy is not remotely prepared to watch his daughter say "I do." And so he makes the maximum mess a middle-aged man can in Father of the Bride (on HBO Max June 16), a sunny, warmhearted family comedy about a flailing patriarch doing his Boomer best not to lose both his little girl and his mind before the reception wraps.

That the film is centered on a Cuban-American clan in Miami is probably the most notable update in director Gary Alazraki's adaptation, though he handles it so breezily that the film feels less like a market-tested corrective than a fizzy celebration of a tale as old as time (or at least 20th-century wedding mores). There's still a generation gap as wide as a turnpike, a slapstick series of self-imposed but always-surmountable obstacles, and the reassuring promise of happily-ever-after by the closing credits. For all its adherence to the featherweight farce of the source material, though, there's one early twist that the previous versions didn't touch: As the movie opens, Billy and his wife Ingrid ( Gloria Estefan ) are on the verge of divorce.

A successful architect who never tires of recounting his immigrant-bootstraps origin story (if Coral Gables ever got snow, he would have walked uphill from Havana both ways), he's adamant that hard work and solvency are the only things that matter; she's had enough of his firm and the Fishing Channel taking up more bandwidth than their marriage. But when their eldest child Sofia ( Morbius 's Adria Arjona), a newly minted New York lawyer, abruptly announces on a trip home that she's met the love of her life and intends to marry him within the month, Ingrid reluctantly agrees to put their own news on pause until the wedding goes through.

Billy wastes no time broadcasting his strenuous objections to the whole plan, and the arrival of Sofia's fiancé Adam ( Luis Miguel: The Series' Diego Boneta, handsomely bland) sends him into a true tailspin: Who is this soft baby-man with his talk of yoga and hiking and working at a nonprofit? And why do they have to move to his native Mexico? He has a lot of questions and little patience for the answers, though the only person who seems capable of interrupting his ongoing monologue is the wedding planner ( Saturday Night Live 's Chloe Fineman ), a blond whirlwind who swings blithely between cheerful TikTok aphorisms and severely misguided cultural hot takes. (She says "Latinx" like it rhymes with "sphinx," and suggests a "flamenco and flamingos" theme.)

As the date gets closer and the colorful in-laws begin pouring in, Billy descends into full Dadzilla mode, a man increasingly on the verge of a nervous breakdown. That doesn't leave a lot for the supremely competent women in his life to do, other than look on disapprovingly and try to contain the wreckage, though the actresses (including Sicario: Day of the Soldado 's Isabela Merced as the bohemian younger sister) are universally likable in their roles. The screenplay, by Matt Lopez, leans bright and broad, but there are sweetly specific moments scattered throughout, from a whisper-fight over dominoes at the local social club to the frequent snatches of Spanish woven into the dialogue. Like 2018's Crazy Rich Asians , Alazraki's take combines glossy escapism with storytelling that centers a demographic long relegated to the sidelines in mainstream American movies. Two-plus decades into the new millennium, that shouldn't be news, though Father is surely important for all those reasons; mostly, it's just fun. Grade: B+

Father of the Bride review – slick comedy remake piles on the charm

Andy Garcia joins Spencer Tracy and Steve Martin as the latest stubborn dad reluctantly taking his daughter up the aisle in a mostly likable Latino update

T he earnest, mid-budget studio comedy gets another gentle jolt back to life this week with HBO Max’s sleek remake of Father of the Bride, a mostly charming throwback to a time of big music, big speeches and big kitchens. It’s a story told twice before, once in 1950 by Vincente Minnelli with help from Spencer Tracy and then decades later with Nancy Meyers ushering Steve Martin, but it’s a dynamic we’ve seen far more times than that, the over-protective father struggling to let his beloved daughter go, especially when she’s heading all the way up the aisle.

It’s such a familiar set-up that our minds instantly go to sitcom territory – dad with wagging finger, daughter with hands on hips – and so to its credit, Mexican director Gary Alazraki’s straight-to-streaming redo manages to feel bigger than that, not just because it looks like a splashy theatrical release but because in dragging the oft-told story into the 2020s, he finds a way to make it feel specific and culturally expansive. Together with screenwriter Matt Lopez, he’s shifted the traditionally Wasp-y tale into more diverse, and dramatically interesting, territory with a Cuban-American family at its centre. El Padre de la Novia as it’s also known centres on Billy (Andy Garcia), an exile who worked his way up from nothing to become a successful architect in Miami with his devoted wife Ingrid (an extremely rare acting role for Gloria Estefan) at his side. But decades in, their marriage has soured and when their daughter Sofia (Morbius star Adria Arjona) comes home from law school, they decide to reveal their divorce to the family. Before they can, they’re surprised by some even bigger news, Sofia is getting married and intends to do so in just four weeks.

Even if one hadn’t seen either of the two prior versions, where the story then goes – from falling out to making up to monologuing about falling out and then making up – will offer few surprises. But the pleasure of a film such as this, and the films it competently recalls, is less in what’s being told and more in how it’s being told and Alazraki, with his biggest film to date, proves to be a dab hand at crafting the kind of high-gloss studio picture we don’t see that much any more. The much-buzzed about return of romcoms has, for me, offered very little joy and has been mostly done on a tight budget with very little artistry. But Alazraki recognises that the wrapping is just as important as what’s inside and he brings a Nancy Meyers-adjacent level of opulence with an evocative jazzy score, an extravagant use of Miami locations and the requisite amount of food and house porn (a faux one-take sequence of last-minute wedding prep is one of the most delightful things I’ve seen all year).

What the recent romcom renaissance has tried to correct is the mostly white and almost entirely straight nature of many of the films that many of us grew up with, allowing a wider spectrum of characters to finally get their running through the airport moment. Retelling Father of the Bride with an almost exclusively Latino cast works so well because Lopez’s script relies on a specificity that gives the film its own, distinctive character, touching on intra-conflicts within the community, and basing the father’s actions on what he’s experienced as a Cuban exile in the US, which gives an added texture to how he handles ideas of money and tradition. His character represents the old world and his future son-in-law the new, with the latter played by Mexican singer-actor Diego Boneta, choosing soft-spoken liberalism over a more traditional form of hyper-masculinity (he’s, gulp, not really into sports). But rather than falling into regressive boomer v millennial, alpha v beta stereotypes (such as in 2019’s loathsome Shaft sequel ), Lopez’s surprisingly deft script shows that it’s the elder who needs to grow and learn and that the younger man’s progressivism is something that can help him out of the rut he’s stuck in.

It’s then even more disappointing that the other daughter, played by the ever-magnetic Isabela Merced, is cursed with an embarrassingly coy, Hays Code-era gay storyline that’s so vague it might as well not exist. It reeks of how-is-this-still-happening studio cowardice which is strange given that the film is skipping a theatrical release so one would assume the territory is less delicate. There are also some confused missteps in how the film handles wealth, particularly in the inconsistency of what the daughter does and doesn’t want at her wedding, urging for something small and earthy while then hiring an ostentatious wedding planner via Instagram. It’s all purely to pay credit to Martin Short’s character in the 1991 film and allows for a rather jarring turn from the otherwise hilarious Chloe Fineman from SNL. Garcia doesn’t have the comic chops of Steve Martin and so the film wisely dials down on the more pronounced comedy, a wise choice given the casting but a few more laughs wouldn’t have gone amiss. While the script could also have afforded Estefan a bit more to do, she has a a warm, easy chemistry with Garcia, the pair taking the material more seriously than it often deserves.

There’s nothing particularly remarkable about Father of the Bride 2022 (was there ever really going to be?) but it’s a far better, and smoother, film than one would expect from the outset, a streaming premiere made with such confidence that it surely deserved a big-screen run.

Father of the Bride is on HBO Max in the US from 16 June and Binge and Foxtel Now in Australia

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Father of the bride, common sense media reviewers.

More dramatic Miami-set remake has swearing, drinking.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Family is essential. Love endures. Parents' relati

Billy works hard to provide for his family, but he

Set in Miami, and main characters are Cuban Americ

Kissing, flirtation, discussion of a woman sleepin

"S--t," "hell," "freaking," "pee," "God" (as an ex

The families of the bride and groom are both very

Adults drink alcohol with meals and in social sett

Positive Messages

Family is essential. Love endures. Parents' relationships and values have a direct influence on their children's relationships and values, but children grow up and have their own values, beliefs, and attitudes. Wealth doesn't bring happiness. Don't judge people by their nationality, and don't stereotype people based on nationality or culture.

Positive Role Models

Billy works hard to provide for his family, but he forgets to give them the attention they need. Ingrid has given her husband an ultimatum in order to enjoy her late middle age; she's a caring and intuitive mom. Cora marches to her own drum and refuses to follow her parents' desired path, but she has talent and works hard at her craft. Sofia has also worked hard for her career, and she and her fiancé have modern ideas about gender roles in a marriage.

Diverse Representations

Set in Miami, and main characters are Cuban American and Mexican. Confronts stereotypes in ways both funny and insightful. Thoughtful discussion of cultural issues, like what traditions come from where and how different families use English and Spanish at home. Discussion of immigration. Characters grapple with generational change and gender roles. Director Gaz Alazraki is Mexican.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Kissing, flirtation, discussion of a woman sleeping with her fiancé before marriage. Characters go to a strip club for a bachelor party, where women in short-shorts dance; an uncle is about to go into a private room with one of the dancers. Two characters who seem to have a mutual attraction share a dance at the end, but a possible relationship between them is left undiscussed.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"S--t," "hell," "freaking," "pee," "God" (as an exclamation), and some swearing in Spanish.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

The families of the bride and groom are both very wealthy; one owns a soccer team, mansions, and a luxury yacht. Brands seen/mentioned include Mac, Uber, Instagram, Starbucks, Biltmore.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults drink alcohol with meals and in social settings. Adults also get drunk at bachelor and bachelorette parties. Cigar smoking. A character owns a beer company.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that this take on Father of the Bride -- like the 1950 and 1991 versions -- is based on the novel by Edward Streeter. But it moves the action from the suburbs to Miami and centers on Cuban American and Mexican characters played by the likes of Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan . Characters discuss immigration, as well as stereotypes and misconceptions about their cultures. Family is a priority, and the film shows how parents' relationships and values have a direct influence on their children, even as times change and values evolve. The two central families are both extremely wealthy. Adults drink, sometimes to excess, and smoke cigars. There's kissing, flirting, discussion of a woman sleeping with her fiancé before marriage, and scenes in a strip club where women dance in short-shorts. Language includes "s--t," "hell," "freaking," "pee," "God" (as an exclamation), and some swearing in Spanish. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Based on 2 parent reviews

Good remake

العرس الانيق, what's the story.

In FATHER OF THE BRIDE, star student and law school grad Sofia Herrera ( Adria Arjona ) is home in Miami for a visit. What she doesn't know is that her wealthy parents, Billy ( Andy Garcia ) and Ingrid ( Gloria Estefan ), are splitting up. When Sofia announces that she's engaged, Billy and Ingrid opt to hide their divorce until after the wedding. Sofia's fiancé, Adan ( Diego Boneta ), is a modern man who does yoga and plans to prioritize his wife's career, which confuses the more traditional Billy. The antics really get going when Adan's Mexican family -- led by uber-rich patriarch Hernan Castillo (Pedro Damian) -- arrives, an underqualified wedding planner ( SNL 's Chloe Fineman) gets involved, and Sofia's unconventional sister, Cora ( Isabela Merced ), is drafted to make the bridal party's dresses.

Is It Any Good?

This may be the most serious retelling yet of the classic family tale, and the updated setting and characters give it a whole new life. There's definitely comedy in this version of Father of the Bride , but, from the very beginning, the tone is more "middle-age existential crisis" than "bumbling patriarch." The movie opens with Garcia summarizing his rags-to-riches immigrant tale in a voice-over and concluding, "So if I did everything right, how the hell did I end up here?" Flash to Billy and Ingrid on opposite ends of a therapist's couch. Their pending divorce and marital issues are portrayed as realistic, not comedic, and both actors seem more comfortable in the dramatic range. Their characters have built an enviable life, full of extended family, which the film embraces as both cultural and a device to get viewers invested in their reconciliation.

Sofia's family is Cuban American, and the in-laws to be are Mexican, a combo that provides some cultural humor, as well as "teachable moments." The film confronts stereotypes in ways both funny (the clueless wedding planner pitching a flamenco-flamingo themed wedding, or Cuban and Mexican men hurling colloquial insults at each other) and insightful (Garcia correcting "immigrant" to "exile" and stressing "I don't know what 'Latinx' means"). The characters are also grappling with a lot of generational change, including gender roles. When a Mexican character asks a group from the two families why they're all speaking English, it's a meta moment for the film, but characters continue to use English together even in private pairs. Still, some Spanish is thrown in, and not all of it subtitled. That, together with Mexican director Gaz Alazraki and cinematographer Igor Jadue-Lillo's loving filming of Miami, suggests that the story, while universal, is playing directly to a Latino audience. The Latin jazz soundtrack is a bonus.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about how this version of Father of the Bride compares with previous adaptations, if you've seen them. What changed? What stayed the same? Why do you think filmmakers choose to remake a movie?

How does Billy show his love for his family, and why is that not enough for them?

What aspects of Cuban and Mexican culture are depicted in this film?

Movie Details

On DVD or streaming : June 16, 2022
Cast : Andy Garcia , Gloria Estefan , Adria Arjona
Director : Gaz Alazraki
Inclusion Information : Latino directors, Latino actors, Female actors, Latino writers
Studio : HBO Max
Genre : Comedy
Topics : Book Characters , Brothers and Sisters , Friendship
Run time : 117 minutes
MPAA rating : NR
MPAA explanation : Se pide a los padres que sean precavidos. Algunos materiales pueden ser inapropiados para los preadolescentes
Last updated : May 18, 2023

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Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

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DVD & Streaming

Father of the Bride

Comedy , Romance

Content Caution

In Theaters

Steve Martin as George Banks; Diane Keaton as Nina Banks; Kimberly Williams as Annie Banks; Martin Short as Franck Eggelhoffer; George Newbern as Bryan MacKenzie

Home Release Date

Charles Shyer

Distributor

Touchstone Pictures

Movie Review

George Banks is a self-proclaimed worrier when it comes to his kids. He has always been a concerned parent “big on car seats, seat belts, bedtimes, curfews, calling when you get somewhere and never running with a sharp object.” But beyond the anxiety, he treasures family moments and does his best to create new memories. And he feels an urgency now that his 22-year-old daughter is coming home from a semester studying architecture in Rome.

Annie’s arrival proves to be more exciting than George and his wife, Nina, ever expected. Annie announces that she’s getting married. She met her fiancé, Bryan MacKenzie, in Italy, and the two fell madly in love. Nina and little brother Matty are thrilled. George, on the other hand, can’t imagine any guy being worthy of his daughter’s affections, but especially some mystery man she met in Europe. “Just what does an ‘independent communications consultant’ do anyway?” George asks suspiciously, “Is that even a real job?”

While still wrestling with those fears, George is overwhelmed by the wedding plans—more specifically, the escalating cost of those plans. Franck, the overzealous wedding planner with an unintelligible accent, pushes all of George’s buttons while dreaming up the most expensive wedding even imaginable. The Banks family can only hope that George pulls himself together in time to make his little girl’s big day memorable for all the right reasons.

Positive Elements

George seems to value his family above all else, and has strong relationships with his wife and kids. When George hits bottom, he promises to be unselfish and more sensitive toward Annie’s feelings. Annie and Nina forgive George for his sarcasm and preoccupation with how much the wedding is costing him. Conversely, Annie tries to appreciate the challenges Dad is facing. Young Matty cuts his father some slack when George apologizes for neglecting him amid all of the wedding chaos.

The first time George and Nina meet Bryan’s parents, Mr. MacKenzie admits his own struggles with letting go of his son, noting (with the subtle air of Proverbs 22:6), “Sooner or later you just have to let your kids go and hope you brought ’em up right.”

Nina calls George on his bad behavior, among other things reminding him how our nonverbal cues and expressions can communicate disrespect. Bryan is a decent, hard-working kid who loves Annie unselfishly, making it extra hard for George to dislike him.

Spiritual Elements

Annie and Bryan have a traditional church wedding, with the reverend alluding to the “solemn vow” of “holy matrimony.” Still, we hear no mention of God during the ceremony. A man does, however, exclaim, “Thank God snow is white!”

Sexual Content

Some passionate kissing. There are several disappointing allusions to premarital sex. George notes that boys are only interested in “one thing,” admitting that he was guilty of hormonal myopia when he was younger. He makes a Freudian slip when he tells his daughter and her new fiancé, “Don’t forget to fasten your condom— seatbelt, I meant seatbelt.” Indeed, he and Nina seem resigned to the fact that Annie and Bryan are probably having sex since they did the same before their nuptials. Brian casually mentions having left his sneakers “in Annie’s room last night.”

Franck and his assistant come across as stereotypically effeminate.

Violent Content

None, though George is threatened by vicious guard dogs.

Crude or Profane Language

Annie uses “god” in an exclamatory manner several times.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Social drinking includes wine with dinner and congratulatory champagne toasts at the wedding reception. Brian brings George and Nina a bottle of bubbly. George takes Brian to a cocktail lounge where they bond over a drink. The wedding planners greet George, Nina and Annie with champagne.

Other Negative Elements

George makes questionable decisions when desperate or frustrated. He enlists young boys to help him park cars. He lands in jail for belligerent behavior in a supermarket. He plans to lie in order to cover for not inviting a friend to the reception.

Unlike many remakes, Steve Martin’s Father of the Bride doesn’t stray too far from Spencer Tracy’s 1950 original—at least when it comes to the plot and characters. This version does, however, reflect societal changes, from gender roles to expectations of physical intimacy. But at the core of it all is a heartwarming comedy that rings true. It may even do a better job than the original of portraying the emotional struggles of a father reluctantly surrendering his daughter to marriage. Indeed, this is a delightful coming-of-age tale that focuses not only on the one reaching maturity, but also those who’ve helped her reach it.

I couldn’t help but notice the contrast in how the two films were tagged for marketing purposes four decades apart. It may seem like a silly thing to compare, but sometimes a tagline says as much as the title. For example, the 1950 version used, “You’re invited to a hilarious wedding!” and “The bride gets the thrills! Father gets the bills!” But I think the 1991 tags do a far better job of capturing the humanity and tender angst portrayed onscreen. They read, “Love is wonderful. Until it happens to your only daughter” and “ Father of the Bride —a comedy about letting go.”

For anyone who’s ever weathered that season of life—or who anticipates it with a mix of misty longing and nightmarish dread— Father of the Bride feels as true now as when Spencer Tracy put on his top hat.

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‘Father of the Bride’ Review: This Time, When Dad Wants to Cancel the Wedding, He’s Right

Kate erbland, editorial director.

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Here’s a weird feeling: the sense that the eponymous father of the bride is right when it comes to his many trepidations about a would-be happy event that is about to consume his life, for better and very much for worse. Edward Streeter’s 1949 novel “Father of the Bride” inspired Vincente Minnelli’s 1950 Best Picture nominee and Charles Shyer’s sterling 1991 version (plus sequels and even a TV series), and now the story receives yet another reimagining, this time through the prism of a vibrant and complicated Cuban-American family led by Andy Garcia as the appropriately addled patriarch.

While many of the film’s beats are familiar, director Gary Alazraki’s version of this classic family comedy often misses one essential ingredient: real humor. Its heart is in the right place, but even its wackiest diversions — including “SNL” star Chloe Fineman trying to put her spin on Martin Short’s indelible wedding planner Franck, plus a fresh take on the two families at its center — fall short of previous versions, and find themselves awkwardly tucked beside far more serious subplots.

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Garcia’s Billy Herrera often feels less nutty and far more pragmatic than his predecessors. It’s a solid performance, but the limitations of Matt Lopez’s script mean it’s not an amusing one, and that levity and lightness is missing from every inch of what should be a comedic slam-dunk. Billy is a dreamer and a hard worker, a bootstrapping immigrant who arrived in this country with nothing — one of his favorite pastimes is sharing increasingly embellished versions of his coming-to-America story — who has become so set in his ways that it’s alienated his beloved family. That includes his long-time wife Ingrid (Gloria Estefan), who is still hungry for new experiences, plus the pair’s two daughters, obvious favorite child Sofia (Adria Arjona) and her more offbeat little sister Cora (Isabel Merced).

In fact, when the film opens, Billy and Ingrid are close to divorce. That’s hardly a zippy, romantic kickoff for a story about the power of true love, but it does serve to further plague Billy. Ingrid wants out of marriage just as Sofia announces she wants in, having fallen head over heels for fellow lawyer Adan (Diego Boneta), who shares her dreams of moving to Mexico and working to help immigrants find the better life Billy carved out for himself long ago. But who exactly is Adan? When did Sofia fall for this dude? Why do they need to get married post-haste, throwing everyone in the family into disarray? Exactly how is Billy going to paper over his own personal drama as they all run toward the chapel of love?

We know this set-up, and we know its rife for comedy and fun, but there’s something decidedly darker about this entry. While the “Father of the Bride” films always followed the emotional arc of the eponymous dad, Alazraki’s take can never quite kick the odd sadness that opens it. Why wouldn’t Billy be opposed to a quickie marriage?

Father of the BrideANDY GARCIA as Billy and ADRIA ARJONA as SophieCR: Claudette Barius/Warner Bros.

Things do get very silly: Fineman’s appearance as nutty wedding planner Natalie Vance provides some levity (her pronunciation of “Latinx” is instantly iconic), but she never reaches the dizzying highs of Short’s take on the well-meaning goof. Billy and Ingrid’s extended family provides some pop, though most of those characters remain one-note and are pushed aside to make room for Adan’s staggeringly wealthy (and amusingly out of touch) clan. A subplot about Cora’s struggles to break free of her sister’s shadow is picked up and dropped at random, and often feels like padding for a story that should already have plenty going on.

While the film is set in Miami, it was filmed in Atlanta. That Southern city is a fine stand-in for some sequences, but it rarely captures the vibrant locale it’s meant to mimic. Worse still are a handful of green-screened sequences that appear to have been shot on a dark set rather than a sun-drenched canal or a hopping party yacht. Eventually, we know, Sofia and Adan’s wedding will take place at the Herrera home (a staple of this franchise), but before we get there, the family is shunted to various locations that, again, only seem to pad the running time. (One exception is the demented mega-mansion Adan’s dad buys to host the overblown wedding of his dreams, which is destroyed in spectacularly Floridian fashion.)

Getting to that blessed event on the Herreras’ own property is the film’s heart-swelling raison d’être, but this “Father of the Bride” chugs toward it in increasingly addled style. The familial bonds are sweet and often amusing, but pointed bickering often rules the roost. Was Billy right to want to put the brakes on this particular event? For the first time in the storied history of this franchise, yes.

“Father of the Bride” starts streaming on HBO Max on Thursday, June 16.

Father of the Bride

A father's coming to grips with his daughter's upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American clan. A father's coming to grips with his daughter's upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American clan. A father's coming to grips with his daughter's upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American clan.

Gary Alazraki
Edward Streeter
Andy Garcia
Gloria Estefan
Adria Arjona
201 User reviews
35 Critic reviews
65 Metascore
2 nominations

Billy Herrera

Ingrid Herrera

Sofia Herrera

Cora Herrera

Adan Castillo
Caridad 'Chi Chi' Gonzalez

Natalie Vance

Hernan Castillo

Julieta Castillo

Marcela Castillo

Junior, Jr.

Bridesmaid #1

Bridesmaid #2

Bridesmaid #3
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

Trivia Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan previously appeared together in For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story (2000) .
Goofs (At 1:23:52) Sofia and her father are sitting outside across from the Domino Park. After he kisses her hand, she puts her hand on top of his. In the very next shot, her arms are folded in front of her.
Connections Features Casablanca (1942)
Soundtracks Azúcar Negra Written by Mario Díaz Performed by Celia Cruz Courtesy of Universal Music Latino Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews 201

jeppepalmari
Jun 21, 2022
How long is Father of the Bride? Powered by Alexa
June 16, 2022 (United States)
United States
Bố Của Cô Dâu
Miami, Florida, USA
Perez Pictures
Plan B Entertainment
Warner Bros.
See more company credits at IMDbPro

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Runtime 1 hour 57 minutes
Dolby Digital

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Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, father of the bride part ii.

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“Father of the Bride Part II” belongs to the genre that could perhaps be called Surrogate Happiness Movies. Good things happen to the characters, we identify with them, and so in a sense they happen to us. Such movies usually contain a minimum of one childbirth scene.

And just as there is no such thing as an ugly baby, so there is no such thing as a bad Surrogate Happiness Movie.

Of course, there are many exceptions to that rule. But movies like this butter us up so well that we'd feel like a grouch criticizing them. "Father of the Bride Part II" is not a great movie and not even as good as its 1991 inspiration (not to mention the Spencer Tracy-Elizabeth Taylor original from 1950). But it is warm and fuzzy, and has some good laughs and a lot of sweetness.

All of the key players return from the earlier film. Steve Martin and Diane Keaton play George and Nina Banks, a comfortable married couple whose daughter ( Kimberly Williams ) got married in the previous film and is now about to make them grandparents. Kieran Culkin , of the Culkin child dynasty, is back as Matty, their younger son. Martin Short and B. D. Wong return as wedding coordinators who now turn out to be interior decorators as well. And many of the supporting characters are the same, as is the expansive old house in which George and Nina reared their children.

As the film opens, they're beginning to feel like empty nesters.

Matty will be in college one of these days, and maybe the old house is just too big. Plus, there are maintenance problems. (They stand in the kitchen while water drips from the ceiling during a rainstorm, and I guess we're supposed to forget they live in a three-story house and that would be one hell of a leak.) Anyway, what with one thingand another, maybe they should move to a smaller place by the beach.

George puts the house on the market, sells it immediately, agrees to be out in 10 days, and sets in motion a series of family crises that I may very well reveal in the paragraphs to come, so read no further (unless you already know the whole story from seeing the previews).

Nina, of course, finds herself unexpectedly in the family way, and so mother and daughter are both pregnant. No prizes for guessing that they may find themselves delivering at exactly the same moment.

George is aghast at this news. ("Going to the movies - that will be economized: `One child - two seniors.' ") George tries to buy back the family mansion, there are misunderstandings with the in-laws, and a slapstick sequence seems a little out of place: George takes too many sleeping pills and is subjected to an unwanted prostate procedure (not that there is such a thing as a wanted prostate procedure).

The big parallel childbirth scene is familiar from many other movies (it was done to perfection by Dudley Moore in Blake Edwards' "Mickey & Maude"), but it gains a certain weight and credibility by the performance of Jane Adams as Dr. Eisenberg, the obstetrician. She enters the movie unheralded, projects an unshakable calm and sensible humanity, and turns her supporting character into an oasis of sanity.

One can imagine the role being played as all clichés, so it's refreshing to see it reinvented by good acting.

Steve Martin supplies the center of the film, as its narrator and comic relief. Once again we are reminded that he has a sweet, gentle side to go along with the cynicism of some of his earlier films. The movie was directed and written by Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers , the husband and wife whose earlier family comedies include " Irreconcilable Differences " and "Baby Boom," as well as "Father of the Bride." I had the unmistakable feeling, toward the end of this film, that they may be reaching the end of this particular road and that there may be new horizons to investigate and new Surrogate Happinesses to explore.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Father Of The Bride Part II movie poster

Father Of The Bride Part II (1995)

Rated PG For Some Mild Language and Thematic Elements

106 minutes

Steve Martin as George Banks

Diane Keaton as Nina Banks

Martin Short as Franck Eggelhoffer

Kimberly Williams as Annie Banks-MacKenzie

George Newbern as Bryan MacKenzie

Directed by

Charles Shyer
Nancy Meyers

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Mother of the Bride’ on Netflix, a Destination Wedding Rom-Com Starring Brooke Shields

Where to stream:.

Mother of the Bride

Miranda Cosgrove Details Her Own ‘Baby Reindeer’ Experience With Stalker Who Set Himself On Fire Outside Of The Home She Still Lives In

9 mother’s day movies on netflix in 2024 to celebrate moms, ‘mother of the bride’ star brooke shields is a miranda cosgrove fangirl: “the hours and hours i spent with my girls watching her”, new shows & movies to watch this weekend: ‘pretty little liars: summer school’ on max + more.

Netflix’s quest to release a crappy rom-com for every minor holiday continues with Mother of the Bride , which guarantees this Mother’s Day will be completely forgettable. Note, it isn’t explicitly about Mother’s Day, but rather, is about a mother-daughter relationship that’s strained by a monumentally familiar assemblage of rom-com cliches. Which isn’t to say that it fails in the talent department – the cast is led by Brooke Shields , Benjamin Bratt and Miranda Cosgrove, and it’s directed by Mark Waters, a veteran filmmaker who’d probably prefer we remember The House of Yes and Mean Girls instead of Ghosts of Girlfriends Past or Bad Santa 2 . And once his latest inevitably hits the Netflix Top 10 for a few days and then drops out of sight, he’ll probably still prefer to be remembered for The House of Yes and Mean Girls .

MOTHER OF THE BRIDE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: RJ (Sean Teale) leads Emma (Cosgrove) into a curiously empty restaurant, only to turn up the lights and reveal a towering flower arrangement that the Queen of England would find a bit too gauche. Only the best backdrop for his proposal to his one and only: he gets down on one knee and she says yes and then immediately frets about sharing the joyous news with her mother. Why? She didn’t bother to tell Mom that she was dating somebody while she was in London interning for a resort company that just offered her a six-figure social-media sponsorship deal. Cut to: San Francisco, where Emma surprises her mom at work. Lana (Shields) is a superstar in genetic research, and surely a highly accomplished, intelligent and confident person, so it’ll be EXTRA FUNNY when she eventually starts acting all neurotic and tripping over things and falling into pools and such. Oh, the irony. So rich, so hilarious. Better wrap yourself in a corset so your sides don’t burst from all the laughter.

Where Was ‘Mother of the Bride’ Filmed? Discover the Thailand Filming Locations for the Brooke Shields Movie

What, you ask, could force such an extraordinary woman off the rails? A tortured movie plot, that’s what. A tortured movie plot that plops everyone in a lush resort in Phuket, Thailand, because no one in their right goddamn mind would bother to watch a wedding rom-com that’s set in Hoboken or Kalamazoo. That’s an annoying cliche, but it’s not the most tortured part. No, that would be the positively mind-blowing COINKYDINK that Emma’s soon-to-be father-in-law, Will (Bratt), dated Lana back in college. Emphasis on the DINK, because he done R-U-N-N-O-F-T without a word of warning, and busted her heart to pieces. Decades have passed and now here they are, in Phuket, feeling all awkward and gutting it out for the sake of their beloved children. What are the chances? THE LORD WORKS IN MYSTERIOUS WAYS.

And so the tests of Lana’s fortitude begin, because not only does she have to deal with a bunch of old moldy feelings from decades ago, but she also learns her role in the wedding is significantly diminished since it’s a literal Instagram wedding sponsored and organized by Emma’s employer. So the usual question we wrestle with while watching these destination-wedding rom-coms, namely, who the hell is paying for all this, has an answer for once. Lana looks at the agenda and she’s a literal asterisk on the page. I mean, they even write Lana’s reception speech for her. And since she has little to do as people shuttle Emma here and there for photo shoots and product plugs – all the stuff of a dream wedding! – Lana lounges in spas and by pools with her wisecrack factory of a sister Janice (Rachael Harris), and, of course, accidentally walks in on Will and his sculpted abdominals while he’s showering. Oopsie!

The primary conflict here is how Lana will handle these significant blows to her self-esteem. And the answer to that is, poorly. So poorly, our protag becomes a loathsome idiot who says she’s enduring all this humiliation for the sake of her daughter’s happiness, but is actually making everything about herself. She banters and snipes like a jilted teenager. She gets so competitive, she ends up drilling a pickleball into Will’s testicles, leaving it up for debate whether it was an accident or not (cue Janice: “Game, set, ouch!”). But she and her amiable ex eventually get less frosty, and soon she finds herself stuck in a half-assed love triangle with Perpetually Shirtless Will and the Also Perpetually Shirtless Lucas (Chad Michael Murray), a hunky vacationing doctor. Will any of these people ever act like adults? Spoiler alert: Absolutely not!

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Note, this movie has nothing to do with Father of the Bride and its slew of remakes and sequels and sequels to the remakes. It does boast a plot that may inspire the writers of Ticket to Paradise to call their copyright lawyers. It also brought to mind You Again , a similarly detestable slab of idiocy in which people also fall into pools, specifically, Jamie Lee Curtis and Sigourney Weaver in the midst of a slapfight. It is a horror. Please note that You Again is not a movie I ever want to recall for any reason. I don’t take kindly to being forced to remember You Again . You do not want me drawing comparison to You Again , because that’s when things get mean and ugly.

Performance Worth Watching: This material – which needs to be chopped up and fed to the worms ASAP – does the cast zero favors. Shields can be an agreeable lead in lightweight comedies, but she’s forced into an ill-fitting quasi-character who comes off more shrill and self-centered than as a supportive, selfless mom. It’s like the director backed her into a corner and forced her to constantly scrunch up her face. Makes you want to retitle this one Brooke Shields’ Scrunched-up Face: The Movie .

Memorable Dialogue: Emma drops this doozy when she learns that her mom and Will used to be A Thing: “If RJ is my half-brother, then the wedding is off!” she quips, proving that rom-coms and incest jokes go together like ice cream and botulism.

Sex and Skin: Bratt holding a pillow over his nethers, but that’s it. Not even a butt shot.

Brooke Shields in black and white on a bright orange background

Brooke Shields Flashed Her ‘Mother of the Bride’ Co-Star Benjamin Bratt During His Nude Scene: “I Thought It Was a Nice Gesture!”

Our Take: The Script-o-Matic has churned out more Hallmarkish drivel that sets up a potentially lucrative examination of complex mother-daughter relationships, then ignores it in lieu of groin-based comedy and wincingly terrible scenes in which Shields flops around in an ill-fitting dress or delivers a decrepit groaner like “I have underwear older than him” when a younger gent shows some romantic interest. At least there are no animal gags in this one, because usually in destination-wedding rom-coms set in tropical locales, inevitably someone gets shit on by seagulls or humped by dolphins or stung by a jellyfish, therefore prompting one character to pee on another character. Honestly, I was hoping this particular collection of twits would’ve encountered a bask of ravenous crocodiles so everyone could meet their gory end, but then reconsidered the fantasy upon realizing that the utter indigestibility of these characters would have killed the poor creatures.

Where was I? Right – Emma and Lana’s poorly realized relationship. Lana’s grin-and-bear-it attempts to be a supportive mother even though her daughter is handing her wedding over to a corporate entity (the film borders on being a glossy advertisement for a resort company that shall remain unnamed in this review, thanks) and marrying the son of the son-of-a-bitch who left her heart in tatters? There’s a little something to that dynamic, but this movie is empty and gutless, uninterested in anything beyond a plot full of dopey misunderstandings, klutzy slapstick, wearisome dialogue and shirtless hunks. We’ve seen and heard every moment of Mother of the Bride before, and you really don’t need to see and hear them again, especially when they’re executed so lifelessly.

Our Call: SKIP IT and SKIP IT hard. Anyone But You is a destination-wedding rom-com that’s also on Netflix. Watch that one instead. It’s funny where Mother of the Bride is inane: all the way down to its bones.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

brooke shields
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'Mother of the Bride' is the new No. 1 movie on Netflix — and critics and viewers have very strong opinions

W hen a movie manages to snatch the No.1 spot on Netflix, it doesn’t always mean that it’s good. The last few days have proved that, with poorly rated movies like “The Great Wall” and “Unfrosted” standing atop the list for some time. However, these movies were soon pushed off when “Mother of the Bride” was released on Netflix yesterday.

Although this romantic comedy has taken the crown, it doesn’t mean it’s worth watching. New releases tend to gather a lot of views before they sink into the darkest depths of the streaming platform. If you’ve seen this title while scrolling but don’t know whether to give it your time, we can enlighten you.

What is 'Mother of the Bride' about?

“Mother of the Bride” follows Lana (Brooke Shields) as she discovers the groom's father is the man who once broke her heart. With that shocking revelation in mind, Lana must push her feelings aside to make her daughter Emma’s (Miranda Cosgrove) wedding special. However, once buried feelings rise to the surface again, they won’t go back down. Lana and Will (Benjamin Bratt) must decide whether they want to ignore their emotions for the sake of the wedding or find their way back to each other.

It’s a classic example of a romantic comedy that uses every trope possible in the genre. From second chances to forced proximity to being stuck together on vacation, this movie goes through the traditional romance checklist pretty well.

“Mother of the Bride” was believed to be the rom-com of the year due to the lighthearted romance and cheesy music implemented throughout the trailer. But after not even one day, it doesn’t seem to be scoring well with audiences and critics despite how warming it might sound.

What critics are saying about 'Mother of the Bride'

Believe it or not, “Mother of the Bride” debuted with a perfect score of 0% on Rotten Tomatoes . Now with more reviews flooding the site upon its release, the rom-com sits at around 19%, with an audience rating of 25%. As you can imagine, these reviews aren’t exactly positive.

Lindsey Bahr from the Associated Press said: “I won’t go so far as to say that Mother of the Bride feels like an AI creation but it does feel at least a little stitched together from pieces of other romantic comedies of varying quality.”

The Guardian’s Benjamin Lee stated: “It’s clear that we’re being spoon-fed more of the same unremarkable competence, sugar with no salt, calories with no nutrition.” Meanwhile, Paste Magazine’s Amy Amatangelo offered quite a unique opinion, saying: “You know when you check into a hotel and the default TV channel is the hotel promotion channel? The new Netflix movie Mother of the Bride is kind of like that.” Honestly, I agree.

However, there are some softer reviews, including Carla Meyer’s from the San Francisco Chronicle : “The whole cast is likable and the scenery lovely, making this only the second-worst Shields beach movie, after “The Blue Lagoon.”

Our take on 'Mother of the Bride'

Should you stream this romantic comedy? Honestly, it’s probably not worth your time when there are other movies on Netflix of higher quality. That’s not to say you should never stream it if you’re in the mood for some lighthearted fun while folding laundry, but you can find better choices when scrolling through one of the best streaming services .

Tom’s Guide can agree that “Mother of the Bride” doesn’t offer anything new in the genre, and the reviews pretty much nail it when it comes to describing the dull narrative and lack of engagement. However, everyone has their own opinion, and you could even end up liking it. Regardless, it’s there to stream on Netflix whenever you fancy it.

What we can say though is that there are plenty of other movies to choose from first, and one of my favorite romantic comedies is now on Netflix with a high score of 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. There is also “Anyone but You” starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, along with Jennifer Lawrence’s “No Hard Feelings”.

If you want something a little different, one of our favorite feel-good movies has also crashed the top 10 on Netflix , and that’s definitely worth watching.

Movie Review: Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt deserve more than Netflix’s ‘Mother of the Bride’

This image released by Netflix shows Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt in a scene from “Mother of the Bride.” (Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Chad Michael Murray and Brooke Shields in a scene from “Mother of the Bride.” (Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Miranda Cosgrove, left, and Brooke Shields in a scene from “Mother of the Bride.” (Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Brooke Shields and Rachael Harris in a scene from “Mother of the Bride.” (Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Benjamin Bratt in a scene from “Mother of the Bride.” (Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix via AP)

This image released by Netflix shows Sean Teale and Miranda Cosgrove in a scene from “Mother of the Bride.” (Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix via AP)

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Romantic comedies are in a destination wedding rut. Perhaps it’s a collective post-COVID wanderlust kicking in, or, more cynically, some combination of tax credits and a place producers want to spend time. But between “ Ticket to Paradise ,” “Anyone But You,” “ Shotgun Wedding ” and now Netflix’s “ Mother of the Bride ,” the conceit is starting to curdle.

The problem is bigger than the setting, of course. There’s only so much heavy lifting a picturesque location, photogenic bodies and enviable resort outfits can do to make up for a lame story. Also, the appeal of an out-of-reach travelogue is limited in this age of influencers living wildly extravagant lifestyles around the clock on Instagram and TikTok (not to mention the sharp ways “White Lotus” has skewered and luxuriated in those worlds).

“Mother of the Bride,” now streaming on Netflix, wonders what might happen if you find out a few days before the wedding that your kid (Miranda Cosgrove) is marrying the offspring of the guy who broke your heart. That’s what happens to Brooke Shields’ Lana. She arrives in Phuket, Thailand, for her daughter’s wedding, meets the groom (Sean Teale), turns around and sees that his father is her college ex, Will (Benjamin Bratt). Barely a minute passes before they both fall into a pond.

Later, she’ll walk in on him emerging from the shower, hit him in a sensitive spot playing pickleball and, after they’ve made some progress, overhear the wrong conversation at the wrong time. This is a movie that is adhering to some kind of romantic comedy checklist, but whose ingredients add up to very little in the end.

Our tolerance for a silly set-up in a romantic comedy is usually pretty generous if we’re given a clever, charming script and authentic emotions. Just think of how ridiculous so many of the greats sound on paper, from “Sabrina” to “Sleepless in Seattle”? Is it fair to compare “Mother of the Bride” to Nora Ephron and Billy Wilder? Maybe not, but it never hurts to be aware of a North Star, which veterans like screenwriter Robin Bernheim Burger and director Mark Waters no doubt are. Just look at the title. This movie even has a romantic foil in a younger doctor (Chad Michael Murray) who is smitten with Lana, which can’t help but remind of Keanu Reeves in Nancy Meyers’ “Something’s Gotta Give.”

But this is so wildly contrived from the start that you never get to that moment where you’re enjoying it enough to stop asking questions, like did Lana never google Will in the 20 years they’ve been apart and find out that he’s a wildly rich and successful businessman? Or why would a major corporation offer an intern who has a barely maintained lifestyle Instagram that she started freshman year of college “six figures” to help promote their luxury hotels? Why are we supposed to root for these young people with seemingly infinite resources (one of their wedding presents in a multimillion Tribeca loft) who agree to get married in a month because a brand asks them to? Maybe more fundamentally, did the kids and a wedding have to be involved in this story at all? Does it make the idea of Will and Lana getting back together too weird to be fun? Couldn’t they have simply run into one another at a resort?

I won’t go so far as to say that “Mother of the Bride” feels like an AI creation but it does feel at least a little stitched together from pieces of other romantic comedies of varying quality. Why cast a capable comedian like Rachel Harris as the best friend only to have her say lines like “Is he on the menu”? Or give Wilson Cruz so little to do as Will’s brother?

And it’s a shame, too, because Shields and Bratt came ready to play, to fall in the pond and be minimally clothed for comedy’s sake. There must be a new generation of romantic comedy writers and directors who grew up on Ephron and Meyers out there and are ready to give us something that’s commercial and glossy but also smart and fun to revisit (ahem, remember “Set It Up”?). Maybe they just need to be given a shot.

“Mother of the Bride,” a Netflix release streaming Thursday, is rated TV-PG. Running time: 90 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

‘Mother of the Bride’ Review: Brooke Shields Says I Do to Netflix’s Aggressively Inoffensive Rom-Com

Miranda Cosgrove also stars in the respectable yet unremarkable streaming feature, in which a high-strung widow reunites with her ex-flame at her daughter’s destination wedding.

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Mother of the Bride. (L-R) Brooke Shields as Lana and Benjamin Bratt as Will in Mother of the Bride. Cr. Sasidis Sasisakulporn/Netflix © 2024

After “Ticket to Paradise” and “Shotgun Wedding” showed us the different ways in which calamity ensues when planning weddings abroad, Netflix releases “ Mother of the Bride ,” which combines the essential elements of both those recent romantic comedies into one passable package. The far-off setting emphasizes the lavish and luxe, though the narrative is cheaply woven and fairly threadbare. While “Mean Girls” director Mark Waters ’ latest fails to add anything unique to the conversation, it does scrounge up a modest amount of heart when it comes to its saccharine sweet message of never giving up on happily ever after.

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Interpersonal relationships between the couples don’t hold a modicum of complexity, providing varying degrees of dampened, rushed resolutions. The audience rarely feels the pull of their emotions or the weight of their decisions. The inclusion of a gay couple is welcomed, though the filmmakers don’t do much with that couple, utilizing Clay and Scott primarily to aid Lana’s arc rather than giving them any internality.

Waters falters in exhibiting the nimble visual dexterity of previous projects. There’s no feeling connoted through aesthetic stylization, as when Regina George’s betrayal dawns on Cady in “Mean Girls” or the curse transference between mother and daughter in “Freaky Friday.” There are few grand movie moments to match the heart-swells in “Just Like Heaven” or the red dress reveal in “He’s All That.” The closest we ever get to something of tangible value are a sunset slow dance between the former lovers and copious drone shots of the sprawling resort property in travelogue-style transitional sequences. Perhaps the peppy, occasionally swoony soundtrack married to the perfectly lit imagery is supposed to inspire our connection to the material, but it doesn’t.

Even so, there are a handful of highlights within its algorithm-aided box-checking. Emma is empathetic to her mother’s extenuating circumstances, which is refreshing to see reflected in Robin Bernheim Burger’s writing and Cosgrove’s nuanced, thoughtful performance. Janice’s horny double-entendres (which Harris blessedly delivers with campy aplomb) are hilarious, especially since she’s never even shown kissing someone she’s hitting on, let alone getting her groove on with them. Shields and Bratt have a chemistry that sparks in their stolen looks and vulnerable intimacies, despite an overall lack of burning desire and heat conducted by their connection. It’s fun to see them stretching their muscles by incorporating genre-mandated physical comedy (via recurring clumsy pratfalls) as it helps to endear this cute couple to us.

Still, with its stale sentiments on social media’s toxic culture of likes and superficial depth exploring second chances at true love, the film’s more palatable qualities are needlessly subdued. In fact, it goes out of its way to not offend anyone with delicate sensibilities, whether it be over-explaining motivations or providing forgettable, reductive scenarios. And while a gentle, light-hearted romp is indeed welcomed in these taxing times, there’s much left to be desired from our journey with these likable but under-developed characters.

“Mother of the Bride” is now streaming on Netflix.

Reviewed on Netflix, May 5, 2024. Running time: 88 MIN.

Production: A Netflix release of a Motion Picture Corporation of America production. Producer: Brad Krevoy. Executive producers: Brooke Shields, Oliver Ackermann, Galen Fletcher, Robin Bernheim Burger, Amanda Phillips, Jimmy Townsend, Vince Balzano.
Crew: Director: Mark Waters. Screenplay: Robin Bernheim Burger. Camera: Ed Wu. Editor: Travis Sittard. Music: Caroline Ho.
With: Brooke Shields, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Rachael Harris, Sean Teale, Chad Michael Murray, Michael McDonald, Wilson Cruz.

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Where Was Mother Of The Bride Filmed? Netflix Rom-Com's Filming Locations Explained

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Mother of the Bride is a romantic comedy full of tropes, but it is also sweet and funny enough to work.
A stellar cast, led by Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt, shines in this lighthearted summer flick.
The film balances silliness and sincerity, offering an easy, breezy, enjoyable watch.

A young woman living abroad gets engaged and surprises her mother with the news that she is getting married in a month — a destination wedding in Phuket, Thailand. Unbeknownst to both, the bride's mother runs into her ex, and shenanigans ensue. Off the cuff, you would think this is the premise of Julia Roberts and George Clooney's Ticket to Paradise . But no, the always amusing, same movie/different font curse strikes again with Netflix's latest romantic comedy, Mother of The Bride , starring Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt.

Lana’s daughter Emma returns from abroad and drops a bombshell: she's getting married. In Thailand. In a month! Things only get worse when Lana learns that the man who captured Emma's heart is the son of the man who broke hers years ago.

Brooke Shields & Benjamin Bratt shine in their roles
The story can be fun and even sincere
Chad Michael Murray is miscast
There are too-silly moments and a concept the film barely explores

After starring in Netflix's A Castle For Christmas (a better movie than this one), opposite the always dashing Cary Elwes, Shields is back in the seasonally appropriate Mother of the Bride . Do you want to get into the beachy vibe, take a vacation to a beautiful exotic location and stare at some impressively good-looking people? Netflix has the thing for you. Want a lightweight story about a mother-daughter relationship sprinkled with the trope of the good old-fashioned college romance that never flamed out? Then Mother of the Bride is just what you need.

Mother Of The Bride Is All Fluff

But it's still a fun time.

Mother of the Bride is riddled with tropes and archetypes, but somehow screenwriter Robin Berheim — who's behind such hits as When Calls The Heart , all three The Princess Switch movies , and A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding — and director Mark Waters, who gave us Hall of Famers , Freaky Friday , Mean Girls and He's All That , manage to make something that is just sweet and funny enough that what usually wouldn't work does.

The key is in the film's pacing; there is just enough of the wedding subplot to anchor the mother-daughter arc. iCarly 's Miranda Cosgrove takes on that task with considerable ease, the unexpected reunion between the mother of the bride and the father of the groom is well managed (yes, their kids are the ones getting married and yes, you know how this ends already), and the filler featuring their friend group and a potential young fling for Shields' character are sprinkled throughout in just the right portions.

While the film isn't something I will eagerly watch repeatedly, it's a good time, bringing the right balance of silly and fun.

Mother of the Bride's success rests on the filmmakers' abilities to not oversell anything and trust that the collective charisma of the assembled cast will do what it needs to do — and it does, though a flimsy script and one major miscast can be distracting.

A Fantastic Cast Shines In A Quietly Amusing Summer Flick

Mother of the bride's strength lies in its actors.

Mother of the Bride's cast is quite impressive, though I highly doubt the likes of Brooke Shields, Benjamin Bratt, Chad Michael Murray, Rachael Harris, Wilson Cruz, and Michael McDonald would give up a chance to have a vacation and do some light acting work in Thailand. Cosgrove and Sean Teale play nothing-burger characters; they are just there to be the catalyst for the central romance but do enough to not feel like a nuisance when they are the focus of a scene.

Cruz and McDonald are the kind of actors you are just happy to see, although McDonald acts as though he walked through the set of Halloween Kills and into Mother of the Bride without breaking character, he is still fun to watch. Cruz is always a joy, and he shines as someone who is meant to exude good vibes only. Harris, as Shields' onscreen best friend, is comically and constantly nursing a drink in her hand, and she offers that I-am-the-mischievous-friend energy here that just feels right for a story about unexpected reunions.

Shields and Bratt are the dynamic duo I never knew I needed. Their chemistry is off the charts, but their most important contributions are their heartfelt performances.

The one glaring outlier in this ensemble is Murray. Although he was considered a heartthrob for some time, his presence in Mother of the Bride feels off. Also, the gag of Shields playing a woman who attracts a man half her age does not work when there is a mere 16-year age gap (58 and 42 is respectable). Additionally, Murray's purpose in the story is not needed, especially when it takes away from the moments involving the former college friends reuniting, which are actually the film's highlight.

Speaking of highlights, Shields and Bratt are the dynamic duo I never knew I needed. Their chemistry is off the charts, but their most important contributions are their heartfelt performances. There are much fewer shenanigans at play than in the aforementioned Ticket to Paradise , but there is a genuine sincerity in exploring former college lovers reconnecting as they near their golden years.

Their dynamic is sweet, humorous, and authentic. Honestly, I could see many people enjoying a light sitcom with Mother of the Bride's cast, specifically Shields, Bratt, Harris, Cruz and McDonald. They make a formidable group of friends at a later stage in their lives who still engage with their youthful spirit.

Mother of the Bride

Mother of the bride strikes the right balance.

Mother of the Bride's story is silly, and it's made sillier by the fact that the couple to be wed inadvertently reunites their respective widowed parents with "the one that got away." The in-law/step-sibling situation here is hardly acknowledged, and while not an outright taboo, I couldn't help but laugh at it. While the film isn't something I will eagerly watch repeatedly, it's a good time, bringing the right balance of silly and fun. The idyllic location is beautifully shot, the story is light and breezy, the performances are equally so, with actors who are a joy to watch.

Mother of the Bride is now available to stream on Netflix.

Full Cast of Mother of the Bride 2024 Movie on Netflix - Every Main Character & Actor Who Appears (Photos)

Rachael Harris, Sean Teale, Benjamin Bratt, Brooke Shields Miranda Cosgrove in Mother of the Bride

Mother of the Bride highlights a star-studded cast featuring the likes of iCarly 's Miranda Cosgrove and Jane the Virgin star Brooke Shields.

The new Netflix comedy movie chronicles the story of how a bride's mother gets into a spontaneous situation where she discovers that the groom's father is the man who broke her heart in the past.

Mother of the Bride premiered on Netflix on May 9.

Every Main Cast Member of Mother of the Bride

Brooke shields - lana.

Brooke Shields as Lana in Mother of the Bride

Brooke Shields leads the cast of Mother of the Bride as Lana, Emma's mother who is shocked (yet happy) to learn that her daughter is finally getting married.

The only downside to the big news is that her ex-boyfriend who broke her heart during college is the groom's father.

It is made clear that Lana still has feelings for her ex, Will, and she needs to keep her emotions in check so that the wedding can go as smoothly as planned.

Shields has over 100 credits to her name, with roles in Jane the Virgin , The Middle , and Mr. Pickles .

Instagram: @brookeshields
Wikipedia: Brooke Shields
IMDb: Brooke Shields

Benjamin Bratt - Will

Benjamin Bratt as Will in Mother of the Bride

Benjamin Bratt plays RJ's (the groom's) charismatic father, Will, who is also Lana's ex.

While Will ghosted Lana during college, he assured her that he is now a changed man.

Will and Lana rekindle their strong bond by going out and having a good time with Janice, Clay, and Scott in Thailand.

As the pair grow closer together, a second chance at love might be on the horizon.

Bratt previously appeared in Miss Congeniality , Law & Order , and Poker Face .

Instagram: @benjaminbratt
Wikipedia: Benjamin Bratt
IMDb: Benjamin Bratt

Miranda Cosgrove - Emma

Miranda Cosgrove as Emma in Mother of the Bride

Miranda Cosgrove stars as Emma, Lana's daughter who is set to have her dream destination wedding in Phuket, Thailand.

Before the wedding, Emma is concerned that her mom will judge her over her decision to say yes to marrying RJ. She is also shocked to learn that her mom dated RJ's dad a long time ago.

Cosgrove's most recognizable role is playing Carly Shay in Nickelodeon's iCarly . The actress also has credits in Despicable Me , School of Rock , and Crowded .

Instagram: @mirandacosgrove
Wikipedia: Miranda Cosgrove
IMDb: Miranda Cosgrove

Chad Michael Murray - Lucas

Chad Michael Murray as Lucas in Mother of the Bride

Chad Michael Murray appears as Lucas, a hot doctor whom Lana is initially attracted to.

When Will realizes that Lucas may be flirting with Lana, it leads to a competition on which of them will eventually get her attention (and affection).

Murray's most famous role is playing Lucas Scott in over 100 episodes of One Tree Hill . The actor also appeared in Sullivan's Crossing , Freaky Friday , and Survive the Night .

Instagram: @chadmichaelmurray
Wikipedia: Chad Michael Murray
IMDb: Chad Michael Murray

Sean Teale - RJ

Sean Teale's RJ is Emma's soon-to-be husband and Will's son.

Lana thinks that RJ and Will are a lot alike, leading to her growing concerns that he might end up breaking her daughter's heart.

Still, RJ's love for Emma is undeniable since he is willing to go the extra mile for her.

The Gifted fans may recognize Teale for his role as Eclipse in the series. The actor can also be seen in Incorporated , Rosaline , and Little Voice .

Instagram: @seanjamesteale
Wikipedia: Sean Teale
IMDb: Sean Teale

Rachael Harris - Janice

Rachael Harris as Janice in Mother of the Bride

Janice is Lana's best friend in Mother of the Bride . The character is played on-screen by Rachael Harris.

Janice is a supportive friend who is not afraid to speak her mind and defend Lana from anyone.

Harris has an impressive list of acting credits, with roles as Linda Martin in Lucifer , Sheila Sasz in Suits , and Nora Parker in Goosebumps .

Instagram: @rachealharris
Wikipedia: Rachael Harris
IMDb: Rachael Harris

Wilson Cruz - Scott

Wilson Cruz as Scott in Mother of the Bride

Scott (played by Wilson Cruz) is RJ's openly gay uncle and Will's brother.

Scott, who is married to Lucas, is ecstatic to learn that he gets to reunite with Emma and Janice (his former friends from Stanford) during the wedding weekend.

Scott also teases Will about potentially rekindling his romance with Lana.

Cruz's notable credits include playing Dennis Vasquez in 13 Reasons Why , Dr. Hugh Culber in Star Trek: Discovery , and Rickie Vasquez in My So-Called Life .

Instagram: @wcruz73
Wikipedia: Wilson Cruz
IMDb: Wilson Cruz

Michael McDonald - Clay

Michael McDonald as Clay in Mother of the Bride

Michael McDonald appears as Lucas, Scott's husband and Lana's friend from Stanford.

Lucas spends a good amount of time with Lana, Janice, Scott, and Will as they try to reminisce about the amazing moments they had in college (such as playing pickleball).

McDonald served as a mainstay of Mad TV , with him appearing in over 200 episodes of the show. The actor's other major credits include How I Met Your Father , Nobodies , and Happytime Murders .

Instagram: @thebestmichaelmcdonald
Wikipedia: Michael McDonald
IMDb: Michael McDonald

Tasneem Roc - Camala

Tasneem Roc as Camala in Mother of the Bride

Tasneem Roc's Camala is Emma and RJ's intimidating wedding organizer who makes sure that everything is ready to go for the wedding.

Camala arrives in Thailand to lay the groundwork for Emma's dream wedding.

Lana is not delighted to learn that Camala appears to have already finished all the necessary tasks needed for the occasion since she believes that wedding planning should be a mother-daughter thing.

Roc previously appeared as Thania in Heartbreak High , Amina in East West 101 , and Anna Lucia in Love and Monsters .

Instagram: @tasneemroc
Wikipedia: Tasneem Roc
IMDb: Tasneem Roc

Dalip Sondhi - Harley

Dalip Sondhi as Harley in Mother of the Bride

Dalip Sondhi is part of Mother of the Bride 's cast as Harley Ray, the hotel's "go-to-guy" who takes care of every request that the wedding guests may need.

Sondhi is known for his roles in Glitch , The Claremont Murders , and Between Two Worlds .

Instagram: @dalip_sondhi
IMDb: Dalip Sondhi

Mother of the Bride is now streaming on Netflix.

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From 'The Iron Claw' to 'The Idea of You,' here are 10 movies you need to stream right now

Sure, you could surprise your mom with a trip to the movie theater to see some smart apes or Ryan Gosling . But if she'd rather spend Mother's Day hanging at home – and she loves movies, too – there are plenty of options to make the holiday entertaining.

Netflix, Amazon's Prime Video, Peacock, Max, Apple TV+, Paramount+ and others boast all sorts of streaming films for fans with various tastes, from comedy and horror to an Anne Hathaway double feature. There are recent theatrical releases like Zac Efron's buzzy pro wrestling drama , a restored 1970 Beatles movie available for the first time in decades, plus a slew of original flicks such as Jerry Seinfeld's Pop-Tarts movie , a new film adaptation of a John Green book and a return to the film world for Brooke Shields, in a Netflix flick perfect for moms of all stripes.

Here are 10 notable new movies you can stream right now:

'The American Society of Magical Negroes'

Yarn sculptor Aren (Justice Smith) is recruited by wise mentor Roger (David Alan Grier) into a secret organization of Black agents whose mission is to keep white people comfortable, and Aren's first assignment turns messy when love gets in the way of the job. It's a satirical take on the "magical negro" trope that makes some points about race and culture before losing its way (and any sort of bite) when the film turns into a predictable rom-com.

Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle.

Where to watch: Peacock .

'The Book of Clarence'

An entertaining blast rather than being blasphemous, the biblical epic stars LaKeith Stanfield as the title character, a weed dealer in Jerusalem circa A.D. 33 who sees the respect Jesus gets and touts himself as "the new messiah." Directed by Jeymes Samuel ("The Harder They Fall"), it's a bold, thought-provoking retelling of the resurrection story through the lens of Black culture that anyone can relate to, believer or not.

Where to watch: Netflix .

Like "Carol" painted with some noir-ish shades, the 1960s-set thriller casts Thomasin McKenzie as the title character, a mousy secretary at a Boston boys prison who lives at home with an abusive dad (Shea Whigham) drinking himself to death. Eileen gets a pick-me-up at work with the arrival of sophisticated psychologist Rebecca (Anne Hathaway), who pulls the fragile younger woman into unfortunate circumstances.

Where to watch: Hulu .

'The Idea of You'

There's a bit of a "Notting Hill" vibe to this rom-com starring Hathaway as 40-year-old divorced mom Solène, who reluctantly takes her teen daughter to Coachella and inadvertently meets – and sparks a spicy romance with – Hayes (Nicholas Galitzine), lead singer of a popular boy band. It's a lot more serious and emotionally wrought than you might expect, but Hathaway nails her character's layered nuance as Solène's relationship goes viral.

Where to watch: Prime Video .

'The Iron Claw'

A very ripped (and amazing) Zac Efron, Jeremy Allen White and Harris Dickinson play members of the Von Erich pro wrestling dynasty in this gripping 1980s-set biopic. Raised by their ex-wrestler father (Holt McCallany), the Von Erichs find success in the ring while navigating a series of tragic losses outside it in director Sean Durkin's touching story of Americana mixed with sibling rivalry, parental pressure and brutal despair.

Where to watch: Max .

'Let It Be'

For Beatles fans or music lovers in general who've just never seen it, Michael Lindsay-Hogg's restored 1970 documentary is a fascinating, candid look at the Fab Four recording the "Let It Be" album, bickering, goofing off and also creating timeless gems. Not as exhaustive or drama-filled as Peter Jackson's "Get Back" docuseries – which pulled from Lindsay-Hogg's wealth of footage – it's still a groovy watch of musical geniuses at work.

Where to watch: Disney+ .

'Mother of the Bride'

It's nice to see Brooke Shields still relevant, and as a lead in a rom-com no less. ("Suddenly Susan" hive, rise up!) But this cheeseball affair is only for Shields completists: The actress plays a famous geneticist whose daughter (Miranda Cosgrove) drops the bomb that she's suddenly getting married, and then the protective mom finds out at the destination wedding in Thailand that the father of the groom is her college ex (Benjamin Bratt).

'Prom Dates'

What could easily be just another R-rated "one crazy night" teen comedy gets a boost from its lively main characters. Jess (Antonia Gentry) and Hannah (Julia Lester) made a pact to have the perfect senior prom at 13, but on the eve of the big night, Jess dumps her cheating beau and Hannah comes out as a lesbian. When they have to scramble to find the perfect dates, assorted shenanigans and, of course, personal growth ensue.

Where to watch: Hulu , Disney+ .

'Turtles All the Way Down'

Adaptations of John Green's young adult novels (including "The Fault in Our Stars") have been a mixed bag, but this one's the best if just for its effectiveness in capturing mental health struggles. Aza (Isabela Merced) dreams of going to college, has ride-or-die pal Daisy (Cree) in her corner and reconnects with camp friend Davis (Felix Mallard), though her crippling OCD – and fear of germs and infection – is a constant threat to foil each one.

'Unfrosted'

Jerry Seinfeld's delightfully ridiculous directorial debut explores the origins of Pop-Tarts with an extremely silly not-so-true story and tons of gags and cameos. The comedian and Melissa McCarthy play Kellogg's employees tasked in 1963 with creating a toaster pastry before their competitors, a processed food spin on the space race that also involves a milk mafia, disgruntled breakfast cereal mascots and a heap of nostalgia.

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Father of the Bride

Where to watch.

Watch Father of the Bride with a subscription on Max, or buy it on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

This Father of the Bride is far from the first to take a trip down the aisle, but it smartly diverges from its predecessors while reaffirming the story's timeless charm.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Gary Alazraki

Andy Garcia

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Father of the Bride movie review (2022)
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Father of the Bride (1991)

COMMENTS

Father Of The Bride movie review (1991)
Advertisement. "Father of the Bride" is not as ambitious or as insightful as "Parenthood," the film it should probably be linked with in Martin's career. Its truths are more sweet and gentle. But it's one of the movies with a lot of smiles and laughter in it, and a good feeling all the way through.
Father of the Bride movie review (2022)
This version benefits from being centered on two Latino cultures. The Spencer Tracy and Steve Martin "Father of the Bride" films were about WASP-y families. This one is about Cuban-Americans living in Florida and it makes the most of the vibrant colors and music that are central to their community. Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan play Billy ...
Father of the Bride
70% Tomatometer 44 Reviews 70% Audience Score 250,000+ Ratings George Banks (Steve Martin) and his wife, Nina (Diane Keaton), are the proud parents of Annie (Kimberly Williams), but when she ...
'Father of the Bride' Review: A Remake With a Cuban Twist
Father of the Bride. Directed by Gary Alazraki. Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance. PG-13. 1h 57m. Find Tickets. When you purchase a ticket for an independently reviewed film through our site, we ...
Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan in 'Father of the Bride' Review
In HBO Max's 'Father of the Bride,' the latest feature adaptation of a 1949 novel, a Cuban American couple in Miami put their divorce on hold in order to plan their daughter's wedding.
Father of the Bride Movie Review
Parents need to know that Steve Martin's comic antics in Father of the Bride-- plus the warm messages about family support and learning to embrace change -- make this remake of Vincent Minnelli's 1950 film a sweet and enjoyable movie. That said, it does mythologize the concept of the high-cost, over-the-top wedding as though it were a requirement for all, and a number of brands are mentioned.
Father of the Bride
Verified Audience. Matt Brunson Film Frenzy. A genuine cinematic treasure, Father of the Bride finds Spencer Tracy delivering what I would deem his finest performance. Full Review | Original Score ...
Father of the Bride
Rated 4.5/5 Stars • Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review joel h While I do prefer the 1991 version of Father of the Bride, the 1950 version also has a lot to offer. Spencer Tracy's ...
Father of the Bride review: Andy Garcia goes full Dadzilla in bright
Father of the Bride. review: Andy García goes full Dadzilla in bright, fizzy 2022 update. The classic comedy gets a sweet, inclusive reboot. A dad is a dad is a dad, whether he lands in 1950 ...
Father of the Bride (1991)
Father of the Bride: Directed by Charles Shyer. With Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, Kieran Culkin. With his oldest daughter's wedding approaching, a father finds himself reluctant to let go.
'Father of the Bride' Review: Something Borrowed, Something Blown
Executive producers: Jesse Ehrman, Andy Garcia, Ted Gidlow, Brad Pitt. Crew: Director: Gary Alazraki. Screenplay: Matt Lopez, based on the novel by Edward Streeter. Camera: Igor Jadue-Lillo ...
Father of the Bride review
T he earnest, mid-budget studio comedy gets another gentle jolt back to life this week with HBO Max's sleek remake of Father of the Bride, a mostly charming throwback to a time of big music, big ...
Father of the Bride (2022 film)
Father of the Bride is a 2022 American romantic comedy film directed by Gaz Alazraki and written by Matt Lopez, based on the 1949 novel of the same name by Edward Streeter.It serves as a reimagining of the titular 1950 and 1991 movies, and the sixth overall installment in the Father of the Bride franchise.The film stars Andy García, Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona, Isabela Merced, Diego Boneta ...
Father of the Bride Movie Review
Our review: Parents say ( 2 ): Kids say ( 2 ): This may be the most serious retelling yet of the classic family tale, and the updated setting and characters give it a whole new life. There's definitely comedy in this version of Father of the Bride, but, from the very beginning, the tone is more "middle-age existential crisis" than "bumbling ...
Father of the Bride
Movie Review. George Banks is a self-proclaimed worrier when it comes to his kids. He has always been a concerned parent "big on car seats, seat belts, bedtimes, curfews, calling when you get somewhere and never running with a sharp object." ... Steve Martin's Father of the Bride doesn't stray too far from Spencer Tracy's 1950 ...
Father of the Bride
In this update of the Hollywood classic, George Banks, the befuddled father who has a hard time letting go of his young daughter when she unexpectedly announces her plans to wed. Tickling funnybones, this entertaining treat chronicles George's hysterical trials and tribulations leading up to the big event. Father of the Bride promises to love, honor, and deliver the kind of motion picture fun ...
'Father of the Bride' Review: Third Time Isn't the Charm in Remake
Edward Streeter's 1949 novel "Father of the Bride" inspired Vincente Minnelli's 1950 Best Picture nominee and Charles Shyer's sterling 1991 version (plus sequels and even a TV series ...
Father of the Bride (2022)
Father of the Bride: Directed by Gary Alazraki. With Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan, Adria Arjona, Isabela Merced. A father's coming to grips with his daughter's upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American clan.
Father of the Bride
There's way more plot to this "Father of the Bride" than necessary. But the unique cultural details add fresh flavor; and the big emotional buttons at the movie's end are as effective as ever. Like a wedding itself, all the stress and irritation pays off in a pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.
Father Of The Bride Part II movie review (1995)
But movies like this butter us up so well that we'd feel like a grouch criticizing them. "Father of the Bride Part II" is not a great movie and not even as good as its 1991 inspiration (not to mention the Spencer Tracy-Elizabeth Taylor original from 1950). But it is warm and fuzzy, and has some good laughs and a lot of sweetness. All of the key ...
Father of the Bride
Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 20, 2012. "Father of the Bride" should bring a smile to anyone who's been in a family that's had a wedding-regardless of your point of view. But the ...
'Mother of the Bride' Movie Netflix Review: Stream It Or Skip It?
Note, this movie has nothing to do with Father of the Bride and its slew of remakes and sequels and sequels to the remakes. It does boast a plot that may inspire the writers of Ticket to Paradise ...
'Mother of the Bride' is the new No. 1 movie on Netflix
"Mother of the Bride" follows Lana (Brooke Shields) as she discovers the groom's father is the man who once broke her heart. With that shocking revelation in mind, Lana must push her feelings ...
Mother of the Bride (2024 film)
Mother of the Bride is a 2024 American romantic comedy film directed by Mark Waters and written by Robin Bernheim.It stars Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove, Sean Teale, Chad Michael Murray, Rachael Harris, and Benjamin Bratt.. After a year abroad in London, Emma returns home and stuns her mother Lana with the news that she's getting married in a month at a resort in Phuket, Thailand.
Movie Review: Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt deserve more than
In "Mother of the Bride," Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt play a pair of college exes who accidentally reunite at a resort in Thailand two decades later. ... Movie Review: Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt deserve more than Netflix's 'Mother of the Bride' ... (Sean Teale), turns around and sees that his father is her college ex ...
'Mother of the Bride' Review: Brooke Shields Says I Do to Netflix's
Editor: Travis Sittard. Music: Caroline Ho. With: Brooke Shields, Benjamin Bratt, Miranda Cosgrove, Rachael Harris, Sean Teale, Chad Michael Murray, Michael McDonald, Wilson Cruz. A high-strung ...
Mother Of The Bride Review: Brooke Shields Is Having A Great Time In
Mother of the Bride is a romantic comedy full of tropes, but it is also sweet and funny enough to work. A stellar cast, led by Brooke Shields and Benjamin Bratt, shines in this lighthearted summer flick. The film balances silliness and sincerity, offering an easy, breezy, enjoyable watch. A young woman living abroad gets engaged and surprises ...
Mother of the Bride Cast, Characters & Actors (Photos)
Mother of the Bride highlights a star-studded cast featuring the likes of iCarly's Miranda Cosgrove and Jane the Virgin star Brooke Shields.. The new Netflix comedy movie chronicles the story of how a bride's mother gets into a spontaneous situation where she discovers that the groom's father is the man who broke her heart in the past.. Mother of the Bride premiered on Netflix on May 9.
New movies on Disney+, Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Peacock to stream now
An entertaining blast rather than being blasphemous, the biblical epic stars LaKeith Stanfield as the title character, a weed dealer in Jerusalem circa A.D. 33 who sees the respect Jesus gets and ...
Father of the Bride
80% Tomatometer 55 Reviews 52% Audience Score 250+ Ratings You are enthusiastically invited to the love, the food, the music and the fun of "Father of the Bride," a modern rom-com updated from the ...

‘Father of the Bride’ Review: A Remake With a Cuban Twist

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