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Average chick flick or refreshing twist?

License to Wed is irrestistably funnily depicted in its trailer before debut. Young lovers Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) and Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore) are just about to be married, and it's always been Sadie's dream to be married at the family church with Reverend Frank (Robin Williams) conducting the ceremony. Before they can get married, however, Frank forces the young lovers into an over-the-edge program where they will have to pass a series of tests to see if they are right for each other and ready for matrimony. Frank, along with his young student (Josh Flitter), sets up a series of challenges and simulations that are supposed to represent the difficulties that the couple will face in the future together.

The storyline is fairly predictable, with a few hilarious scenes and heartwarming moments that will undoubtedly charm female viewers. However, the film does not transcend to the next level in the sense that due to its predictable plot, the element of surprise is more or less absent. Moreover, how the story wraps up at the end is perhaps too dreamy, where its happy ending is only possible due to the opportune moment of everyone gathering, making the ending seem a little patched up rather than a truly resolute finale.

While Robin Williams is widely known as an excellent comedian and actor, his performance falls short in this short 91 minute film as his likability drops inversely as the film progresses. Viewers may be expecting an affectionate performance by the veteran, but ironically his portrayal of Reverend Frank being overly intrusive is a tad too exaggerated and only serves to repel people. Whilst the exaggeration of character portrayal may serve as an easy outlet for producers to create hilarious situations, it does so at the expense of ruining the loving makeup of a family Reverend.

Actor John Krasinski does a fab job at portraying the typical bum of a male, and Mandy Moore too, accurately playing a sweet and lovable 'control freak'. They then play great stock characters with prescribed characteristics, and thus they're performance is believable only to the extent where they play a cute and compromising couple, rather than fulfilling the idea of soul mates uniting.

What is the major takeaway from this film is the insight into the marriage preparation course for Catholics and Christians, though of course the one in real life may be subjectively more gruelling and less comical. The movie serves as an eye opener for all, into the route of marriage and the beginnings of all related problems. There is thus learning points within the film, making it a worthy chick flick to be watched but not excitingly refreshing due to the lack of real connection between the audience and characters. The characters, being more of stock characters, exaggerated to a height to serve only as comparisons to real life, rather than the depiction of real life. There are multiple unbelievable moments, and too much stock put into character for the movie to truly be a revolutionary romantic comedy.

Thus the film can only be watched at a superficial level and enjoyment thus only felt at a superficial level.

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