Oh, my - what a trip this film is.
There is something unpleasant and discomfiting about the whole premise of Getting Married - our being asked to sympathize with any young man insensitive enough to crash one of the most stressful weeks of a woman's life and ruin her planned nuptials. And what kind of silly bride would jilt her intended at the altar to marry a lovestruck pursuer whom she barely knows, who has been acting like a psycho for seven days attempting to woo her? What does that say about her stability? At least, in The Graduate - which this movie shamelessly rips off - we see chemistry between Ben and Elaine and understand that they have an established compatibility and have fallen for one another. It also ends with a coda questioning the wisdom of their decision, as they seem destined to become their miserable parents. Getting Married is neither as sophisticated nor as adult.
Envisioning the scenario of 'Married' from the Mark Harmon character's point of view, I can imagine what a nightmare it would be, and how much it would wreck the groom's life and break his heart, if a lovesick pursuer destroyed his wedding. It might spell disaster for the bride as well, if she barely knew the suitor and went along with his scheme impetuously.
I know, I know - Getting Married was intended as a frothy romantic comedy, and I should take it in that vein. But it might have worked better if the scriptwriter had more carefully established the prior relationship (the emotional synchrony) between the Michael Carboni and Kristy Lawrence characters, and turned the Howie Lasser character (Harmon) into more of an ass who bamboozles Lawrence into thinking otherwise. Instead, as presented here, we get no scenes of intimacy between Michael and Kristy; even when the story opens up the door on this possibility, it drops the ball. And Lasser seems like a pretty class A dude, willing to fight for his fiancée. Any woman worth half her senses would choose him over the smug, monomaniacal, and possibly sociopathic wallflower played by Richard Thomas.
Is there any universe that could actually introduce half of what this guy Michael does, without implying that the character is a certifiable nut? I include on that list: his "Marry Me" billboard, his entrance as a white knight on a horse (a getup that he apparently whips together in about 10 minutes), and above all else, conning his gal pal into posing as his intended to register a phony marriage at city hall - the point where the film dives into all-out lunacy. An act of fraud? Sure, why not, if it helps him get the girl. (SMH)
There are also logical holes large enough to drive a train through them - my favorite is the notion that Carboni only informs his parents of the wedding less than a week before, and they ask no questions at all - and, bizarrely, end up making elaborate preparations for another ceremony, but never ask where the bridal party is. This plays like something out of The Twilight Zone.
The film is never as creepy as it could have been, and it has some inspired touches, including fine supporting turns by Van Johnson and Vic Tayback, and an original, gentle romantic song diegetically composed by the Carboni character and performed nicely by co-star Fabian (albeit exhaustively overplayed). And Armstrong was an ideal choice for Kristy - you can see why any young man would lose his heart to her.
But the material has an unsettling quality that undercuts the gentle uplift sought by its creators. And it sinks beneath the weight of its own implausibility.
There is something unpleasant and discomfiting about the whole premise of Getting Married - our being asked to sympathize with any young man insensitive enough to crash one of the most stressful weeks of a woman's life and ruin her planned nuptials. And what kind of silly bride would jilt her intended at the altar to marry a lovestruck pursuer whom she barely knows, who has been acting like a psycho for seven days attempting to woo her? What does that say about her stability? At least, in The Graduate - which this movie shamelessly rips off - we see chemistry between Ben and Elaine and understand that they have an established compatibility and have fallen for one another. It also ends with a coda questioning the wisdom of their decision, as they seem destined to become their miserable parents. Getting Married is neither as sophisticated nor as adult.
Envisioning the scenario of 'Married' from the Mark Harmon character's point of view, I can imagine what a nightmare it would be, and how much it would wreck the groom's life and break his heart, if a lovesick pursuer destroyed his wedding. It might spell disaster for the bride as well, if she barely knew the suitor and went along with his scheme impetuously.
I know, I know - Getting Married was intended as a frothy romantic comedy, and I should take it in that vein. But it might have worked better if the scriptwriter had more carefully established the prior relationship (the emotional synchrony) between the Michael Carboni and Kristy Lawrence characters, and turned the Howie Lasser character (Harmon) into more of an ass who bamboozles Lawrence into thinking otherwise. Instead, as presented here, we get no scenes of intimacy between Michael and Kristy; even when the story opens up the door on this possibility, it drops the ball. And Lasser seems like a pretty class A dude, willing to fight for his fiancée. Any woman worth half her senses would choose him over the smug, monomaniacal, and possibly sociopathic wallflower played by Richard Thomas.
Is there any universe that could actually introduce half of what this guy Michael does, without implying that the character is a certifiable nut? I include on that list: his "Marry Me" billboard, his entrance as a white knight on a horse (a getup that he apparently whips together in about 10 minutes), and above all else, conning his gal pal into posing as his intended to register a phony marriage at city hall - the point where the film dives into all-out lunacy. An act of fraud? Sure, why not, if it helps him get the girl. (SMH)
There are also logical holes large enough to drive a train through them - my favorite is the notion that Carboni only informs his parents of the wedding less than a week before, and they ask no questions at all - and, bizarrely, end up making elaborate preparations for another ceremony, but never ask where the bridal party is. This plays like something out of The Twilight Zone.
The film is never as creepy as it could have been, and it has some inspired touches, including fine supporting turns by Van Johnson and Vic Tayback, and an original, gentle romantic song diegetically composed by the Carboni character and performed nicely by co-star Fabian (albeit exhaustively overplayed). And Armstrong was an ideal choice for Kristy - you can see why any young man would lose his heart to her.
But the material has an unsettling quality that undercuts the gentle uplift sought by its creators. And it sinks beneath the weight of its own implausibility.