Diane Keaton is wonderful as George's wife, Nina. She is the one who is in control the whole time, and who keeps her husband from doing really stupid things. I especially loved the scene where she goes to bail him out of jail and makes him promise a few things before letting him out. It was great! Kimberly Williams is wonderful as Annie Banks. You can really see how much she loves her dad, even when he does not-so-smart things, like taking the McKenzie's bank book and then accidentally throwing it into the pool, which results in *him* falling into the pool!
And how can anyone forget Martin Short. He was so, so funny as Franck (not Frank!), the Wedding Coordinator. His accent is so funny and very original. It makes me wonder if he thought it up himself. If you want to see a funny and quite original, I might add, comedy, see this one. You won't be disappointed!
This movie made me laugh, and a few of the scenes have rattled around in the back of my head for a long time, causing me to laugh whenever they decide to come forward.
After identifying the leads, I will give a very brief synopsis of the plot, then on to some highlights, as I remember them:
George Banks, played by Steve Martin, is the title character. Nina Banks, George's wife, is portrayed by Diane Keaton. Their daughter, the bride to be, Annie Banks, is played by Kimberly Williams. And, if a comedy can be said to have its own comedy relief, that is provided by Martin Short as Franck Eggelhoffer, Wedding Consultant.
Plot: Annie comes home from 6 months abroad and tells her parents that she is engaged to be married. George is not too happy about this, as he is not ready for his daughter to leave home. He is finally convinced to give in to the inevitable, and the wedding planning begins. The plot line follows through the wedding preparations and the wedding, itself. Like most light comedies I've seen, the plot merely provides a setting for the comedy to follow.
As in a few of my other reviews, I'm doing this from memory, so I may occasionally be "off" in the details. Forgive me my errors or omissions.
One of my impressions from early in the movie is how thrilled George is when told that the wedding will be at home. He has visions of a backyard get-together where he fires up the old barbecue and cooks burgers for everyone. Boy, is he in for a surprise.
Enter Franck Eggelhoffer, the wedding planner your mother warned you about. Each time he opens his mouth, and Nina and Annie nod their heads in agreement, George rightfully visualizes another few thousand dollars flying out the window: An enlarged back yard, a tent for a few hundred guests, thousands of dollars worth of wiring, live swans, ice sculptures, caterers, musicians, you name it. Nothing, and I mean nothing, is too much.
Franck has an unidentifiable accent that cracked me up every time he opened his mouth.
All of this proves too much for George and he goes bezerk. At his most fragile, he goes to a supermarket to buy some hotdogs and buns for an at home barbecue one evening in the middle of the planning period. One step from a straight jacket anyway, he cannot cope with the fact that there are different quantities of hot dogs and buns in their respective packages. He rants and raves and begins to tear the package of buns to shreds. Finally, the police are called and he, the respected middle-class professional from San Marino, CA, is arrested. Words don't do justice to this scene, it must be seen to be appreciated.
Then there's the day of the wedding, unusually warm as I remember. The guests are greeted by flooding caused by melting ice sculptures, swans running wild, and other colossal mishaps. Again, it must be seen to be appreciated.
The wedding does go off, and there is a final scene of father and daughter, always in separate parts of the house, desperately searching for one another for a final goodbye before she leaves on her honeymoon.
Evidently, this movie was too slapstick for some people, but in my opinion, the "wild and crazy guy" kind of humor was one of the main justification for remaking a good 1950's movie that had starred Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor as father and daughter.
