If you’ve somehow felt deprived because the wave of nostalgia-fueled TV-to-movie adaptations has yet to include
The Love Boat, here’s a movie for you. Directed by Jeffrey Blitz from a pre-fame script by the Duplass brothers, it tells the story of a young woman named Eloise (Anna Kendrick, reunited with
Rocket Science director Blitz) who reluctantly attends a wedding after being recently dumped by the best man (Wyatt Russell), and finds herself exiled to the reception table populated by undesirables like an ex-con relative (Stephen Merchant) and the bride’s first nanny (June Squibb). Blitz races through the many sub-plots like that vintage 1970s romantic anthology, tossing in just enough slapstick farce to offset the more serious stories, like the disintegrating marriage of two Table 19 designees (Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson, so much better than this material). Enjoyably goofy performances by Merchant and
Grand Budapest Hotel’s Tony Revolori provide momentary distraction, but the movie is too busy dashing from one plot point to the next to capture the despair of being a reluctant wedding guest. Where’s Isaac to serve a drink when you need him?
By
Scott Renshaw