Judging by the way Hollywood has operated lately, it is only a year or two before the world's audience gets introduced to the first prestigious films desperately trying to cash in on 1990s nostalgia. Because of audiences' short attention span and Hollywood's increased reliance on younger crowds of film-goers, commercially usable nostalgia got redefined into memories of the world as it was only a decade or fifteen years ago. Early 1990s saw 1970s nostalgia and late 1990s saw a string of films trying to remind people of the 1980s. One of those films is The Wedding Singer, a 1998 romantic comedy directed by Frank Coraci.
The plot is set in 1985. Some time ago Robbie Hart (played by Adam Sandler) dreamed of a career of rock musician. But the closest his dreams came to reality is in his low-paid job of a singer at weddings and other ceremonies. The only comfort comes in the form of his girlfriend Linda (played by Angela Featherstone) with whom he is supposed to marry and because of whom he sees beautiful waitress Julia Sullivan (played by Drew Barrymore) as nothing more than good friend. But Linda gets tired of being attached to a loser living in his sister's basement and manifests that by leaving Robbie at the altar. Robbie is devastated and Julia tries to save him from terminal depression. Gradually, love develops between the two of them, but Julia also happens to be engaged to Glen Guglia (played by Matthew Glave), a greedy and arrogant yuppie who doesn't even bother to hide his womanising tendencies.
The Wedding Singer is in its essence a romantic comedy with a plot so generic that it could have been easily used hundreds years ago. It is also another example of Hollywood's fear of subtlety – authors, unashamedly trying to show that they remember 1980s, almost shove each and every period detail down audience's throats. Some of the scenes in the film almost cause nausea because of their idiocy. But, despite all of that, The Wedding Singer works as a whole. Main reason for that is in brave casting. Adam Sandler, who made a career by playing neurotic and violent characters, is humble and restrained in the role of lovable loser. Drew Barrymore, another bad girl of early 1990s Hollywood, is equally effective as embodiment of feminine virtue. Because of such performances, the audience can forget the syrupy nature of the plot and start cheering protagonists while they travel towards predictable and all-too-familiar conclusion. Although there are definitely better ways for contemporary audience to familiarise itself to 1980s and although watching this film is hardly the profound experience, The Wedding Singer represents an hour and half of solid entertainment.
RATING: 5/10 (++)
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.films.reviews on June 8th 2004)
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