A Review of Shotgun Wedding by Nick Olszyk
Distribution Service: Amazon Prime
MPAA Rating, R
USCCB Rating, Not rated at the time of this review
Reel Rating, Four Reels
When I married in the summer of 2012, the biggest difficulty
we encountered was my wife forgot to put down her veil for the procession. It
was frustrating for her but unnoticeable compared to the challenges of Tom and
Darcy’s nuptials. Yet these problems provide them with an opportunity to deepen
their love for one another in a beautiful affirmation of martial values. Oh,
and there are also machine gun wielding Bali pirates who might kill everyone.
Tom
(Josh Duhamel) and Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) are a classic example of “opposites attract.”
Tom is a blue-collar worker from a lower-middle class family, detailed oriented
and well grounded. Darcy comes from an extremely wealthy background, spent a good
deal of time in the Peace Corps, and doesn’t seem to have ever had a real job. Both
are getting married later in life after years of focusing on themselves. To
make a show of devotion – and perhaps impress his in-laws – Tom arranges an expensive
destination wedding on the beach in The Philippines. On the happy day, two
problems emerge. First, Darcy gets cold feet. Second, a group of terrorists
take the wedding guests hostage, demanding $45 million in ransom from Darcy’s
father. Fortunately, the couple was off quarrelling and wasn’t kidnapped. Upon
discovering their predicament, they must set aside wedding jitters and – taking
a page from John McLane – rescue their friends and family.
I
give an annual talk to RCIA on Marriage and Family Life, and I always begins
with the same dramatic phrase: “Marriage is more s*** than sex.” Literally.
Through long stretches of your married life, a couple will change more diapers
than have sexual encounters. Tom and Darcy’s main problem facing their marriage
is egotism. Both have lives according to their own design and now must take
another into consideration. Tom doesn’t understand that controlling every
aspect of their wedding would put Darcy off. Darcy failed to realize Tom needed
a large wedding to demonstrate his love. Bluntly, neither has suffered enough.
Fortunately,
they do have one good example. Throughout the first half of the film, everyone belittles
Tom’s annoying parents. His father tries to videotape everything, while his
mother keeps making dumb remarks. At a key moment, they reveal that both
cheated on each other early in their marriage. “You didn’t you break up?” Darcy
inquires bewildered. “Well,” the mother casually shrugs. “We loved each other,
so we just worked it out.” Love doesn’t mean never sinning. It means sacrificing
for another, even if that other is the source of one’s pain.
In
this sense, the terrorists represent a litmus test. Can Tom and Darcy work
together, even endangering their own lives, to save others – some of whom they
can’t stand? The answer is clearly yes. Darcy overcomes her fear of blood and
personal security to engage violently with the enemy. Tom puts aside his love
of order and embraces the chaos of war. Together, they defeat the enemy and win
the day! It was an oddly satisfying affirmation of marriage’s ability to save
society from its worst elements.
All
this sounds profound, but it is presented in a candy coated shell. The film is
filled with witty bander and slapstick situational comedy. Especially
impressive was Lopez’s performance. Know mostly for her dating history, she is
an underrated actress of considerable talent. Duhamel is also fantastic as Jimmy
Stewart type everyman who would never upstage the superstar. As the title of my
review suggests, the plot has been done a million times, but, like Shakespeare,
it’s the words and characters that count. Shotgun Wedding is the perfect
date movie that may, ever so gently, encourage young people that traditional
marriage is an adventure worth taking.
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