Father of the Bride (2020) User Reviews

Affecting

[jamesmb-66722 · 8/10 · 23 March 2023]

Just watched this via the iplayer Beacons: Short Films from Wales.

A nice little film about power and abuse. Beautifully shot and written.

I have no idea what the another reviewer means about the sound. I thought the sound and music was excellent. Nicely balanced and atmospheric. The way the music bulds at the end was especially affective. The dialogue is definatley left natural, as if the director isn't too fussed if you hear every word. It felt more like a style choice. Nolan-este. I think this as well as the dialectic might be tough for Americans. For us Welsh. It worked just fine.

Would recommend. Look forward to checking out the rest of the films in this series.

Probably a decent little film...but I couldn't understand half of it.

[RMurray847 · 5/10 · 8 January 2021]

Yes, I'm American, and it always take a minute to attune my ears to heavy British accents (rather than the "nice" accents of something like Downton Abbey). But the sound recording/mix on this was SO problematic, I couldn't really quite hear the characters much of the time. You can pick up the gist of what's happening, but that's about it. It's the story of a young man, about to speak at his older brother's wedding. He's rehearsing his speech in the men's room (always problematic acoustically). The father of the bride comes in and makes a very physical and unsolicited "pass" at the startled young man. The ramifications of these few seconds impacts the rest of the film and clearly has impact on the young man's relationship with his girlfriend. The movie does a fine job of showing how a fleeting assault like this can have immediate ramifications. And how they can come from the most unexpected sources. It's a neatly executed exploration of the subject...carries quite an impact for just 15 minutes of film time.

But the dialogue being so spotty makes it tough for me to give this more than 5 stars. It's a sin that's darn near unforgivable. I know the budget was likely quite low...but it really makes this otherwise well-done film seem not ready for prime time.