J-Lo fans are sure to find a lot to love about Shotgun Wedding. Everyone else, maybe not so much. It’s not the worst movie ever made, to be sure. There are a lot of incredibly humorous performances by legendary comedic actors. As a whole, however, the movie is overwhelmingly average. There is so much happening, and yet hardly anything at all.
The story is classic J-Lo in every sense. In every romantic comedy or action flick, she plays a different version of herself. To her credit, she plays this character to near perfection. Unfortunately, in Shotgun Wedding, her character, Darcy, isn’t overly sympathetic. She’s a rich woman who isn’t setting anything resembling boundaries at her wedding. She can be forgiven for being miffed when pirates invade. Before then, though, all bets are off.
One aspect of the story that had a lot of potential was the wedding dress itself. The dress’s transformation was clearly meant to follow Darcy’s character development. The gradual change from a dress her in-laws want to one that Darcy herself would wear is a sweet and empowering journey. This is evidently a physical manifestation of Darcy’s journey that sadly doesn’t get a chance to be fully appreciated.
The male romantic lead, Tom (Josh Duhamel) hardly merits mentioning. He’s so one dimensional and flat, he may as well not be here at all. He’s completely ignorant to what his fiancée wants and needs. Until danger is staring him right in the face, he’s more or less totally oblivious. This isn’t charming or sweet. It’s a reminder that the bar for men, even of the fictional variety, is on the literal floor.
Jennifer Coolidge and D’Arcy Carden are sadly wasted. These are comedic titans, and their talents are dampened by a less-than-stellar script. Both should have been given far more screen-time to just be their hilarious selves. Carden doesn’t need a plot twist and a side quest to shine. Coolidge is allowed to be her brilliant chaotic self for only a few moments, but what a glorious few moments they are.
Lenny Kravitz is given an interesting storyline for his character that doesn’t really come together. The fact that he’s a super hot ex-boyfriend crashing his ex’s wedding is objectively hilarious. Who among us doesn’t want an ex as perfect as Lenny Kravitz? The character twist definitely makes sense, although it’s not given enough time to develop.
Shotgun Wedding isn’t able to fully overcome its overwhelming sense of mediocrity. In an age where romantic comedies are getting new life, this feels firmly out of a previous era. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing on its own. However, these types of movies need to have something special if they want to stand out. This movie sadly does not have anything new to add to the genre.
Shotgun Wedding is available to stream on Prime Video.