Father of the Bride (1991 Version)
Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, and Martin Short team up to take Tracy, Bennet, and Taylor's comedy into the 20th century. Tagline: "Love is wonderful. Until it Happens to Your Daughter."
What Rocked
The scene opens to a destroyed house, half full glasses and plates of picked over food are thrown across a table, confetti and other party decorations litter the floor, and we see a man sitting in an armchair surveying the damage. Begin George Banks' monologue.
Sound familiar? This movie did an excellent job at taking the parts that really worked from the first film and sneaking them into this one. The daughter's perfume as a gift from her lover in the beginning, the scene with the coats where Mr. Banks sees his advice is no longer the one that matters, even the race through the house to at least kiss the bride is exactly from the original. Those little details worked then and they work just as well, if not even better, now. Updates included hyphenated last names for the new couple; a strong, feminist, college and career set daughter rather than a young sheltered one who just lives at home waiting to move into her husband's house; and a whopping $250/head for the wedding (instead of the $3.75 in the original).
Martin in this movie was the voice of the American father. It wasn't just the financial woes and the paranoia over the young horndog after his daughter...The scene with the hotdog buns at the market could have been hand-picked from the minds of any American. Martin was relatable and lovable, with Keaton a wonderful compliment to his zany behavior.
My number one favorite thing about this movie: Franck Eggelhoffer. The accent. The gestures. Perfection. He was the missing piece, the key to keeping those final scenes from losing its oomph. I genuinely looked forward to every second he was on the screen. The "chipper chicken" scene is so good, I had to rewind to watch it again.
What Blew
Well, I couldn't find much that blew. Was the story cliche? Yes. Was it pretty one-dimensional. Sure. It was still a lot of fun though so I don't mind it all that much. My one small complaint is that the play-by-play voice overs by Martin were sometimes unnecessary and took away from the scenes, case in point the bar scene at the end where George is giving advice to his soon to be son-in-law. But even that is not that big of a deal.
Sorry this review is pretty one sided, but don't worry! The experts all had plenty to say....
What Others Thought
What Else You Should Know
The sequel (yes there was a sequel to this remake, ha!) is also very funny. Check it out.
What Rocked
The scene opens to a destroyed house, half full glasses and plates of picked over food are thrown across a table, confetti and other party decorations litter the floor, and we see a man sitting in an armchair surveying the damage. Begin George Banks' monologue.
Sound familiar? This movie did an excellent job at taking the parts that really worked from the first film and sneaking them into this one. The daughter's perfume as a gift from her lover in the beginning, the scene with the coats where Mr. Banks sees his advice is no longer the one that matters, even the race through the house to at least kiss the bride is exactly from the original. Those little details worked then and they work just as well, if not even better, now. Updates included hyphenated last names for the new couple; a strong, feminist, college and career set daughter rather than a young sheltered one who just lives at home waiting to move into her husband's house; and a whopping $250/head for the wedding (instead of the $3.75 in the original).
Martin in this movie was the voice of the American father. It wasn't just the financial woes and the paranoia over the young horndog after his daughter...The scene with the hotdog buns at the market could have been hand-picked from the minds of any American. Martin was relatable and lovable, with Keaton a wonderful compliment to his zany behavior.
My number one favorite thing about this movie: Franck Eggelhoffer. The accent. The gestures. Perfection. He was the missing piece, the key to keeping those final scenes from losing its oomph. I genuinely looked forward to every second he was on the screen. The "chipper chicken" scene is so good, I had to rewind to watch it again.
What Blew
Well, I couldn't find much that blew. Was the story cliche? Yes. Was it pretty one-dimensional. Sure. It was still a lot of fun though so I don't mind it all that much. My one small complaint is that the play-by-play voice overs by Martin were sometimes unnecessary and took away from the scenes, case in point the bar scene at the end where George is giving advice to his soon to be son-in-law. But even that is not that big of a deal.
Sorry this review is pretty one sided, but don't worry! The experts all had plenty to say....
What Others Thought
- Well Oscar didn't offer any nods but the film was nominated for a few...lesser...awards...
- RottenTomatoes didn't have share in my affection either, giving it a 71% rating.
- Scott Weinberg of DVDtalk.com seems to be a moderate fan of the film: "while Father of the Bride is basically not much more than a fluffy little valentine of a movie, there's still some actual warmth and wit underneath the "been there, seen that, nice wedding" exterior."
- Don Wilmott spares no feelings in his comments about the film: "It’s really hard to feel too terribly sorry for the uptight George Banks when he bitches and moans about the ever-rising costs of his daughter’s wedding in Father of the Bride. After all, he lives in overstuffed opulence in a Pasadena mini-mansion, runs his own company, drives an antique sports car, has a perfect and gainfully employed wife, and two perfect kids. Is the wedding cake outrageously expensive? Get over it, George." Obviously the film explores a bit more than just the financial cost of the wedding. Dig a little deeper there Mr. Film Critic.
- Janet Maslin agrees with me about success of taking the best from the original and making it new: "The screenplay represents recycling at its best. The material has been successfully refurbished with new jokes and new attitudes, but the earlier film's most memorable moments have been preserved"
- The Boston Globe praises Steve Martin--and nothing else: "Martin is lots of friendly fun, proving once again that he is an actor with untapped range and style. Without him, the movie would deflate."
What Else You Should Know
The sequel (yes there was a sequel to this remake, ha!) is also very funny. Check it out.
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