GC Movie Review - Our Family Wedding

Marcus’ dad Brad Boyd (Forest Whitaker – The Last King of Scotland, Phone Booth, Panic Room) is a divorced radio DJ who’s nights are spent at night clubs picking up much younger women, needing some sort of freakish control over everything in his life, collecting fine art, driving his vintage car and his days as a part-time dad.

Lucia’s dad Miquel (Carlos Mencia – The Heartbreak Kid, Outta Time) has made a beautiful life for his family as the owner of a car restoration shop. He lives a comfortable Catholic life with his wife Sonia (Diana Maria Riva – What Women Want, Employee of the Month, The Third Wheel) who needs more out of life, daughter Isabella aka “Izzie” (Anjelah Johnson - You Tube, MADtv, Alvin and the Chipmunks – The Sqeakquel) and mother Cecilia (Lupe Ontiveros – Real Women Have Curves, El Norte, Picking up The Pieces).

The initial meeting takes a left turn when both fathers meet and insults begin to fly and an immediate intense competition begins. Both are committed to one-up the other, it doesn’t matter if it’s eating, sitting in a chair, singing or paying for the wedding someone’s winning and someone’s losing. We all know that Carlos Mencia is a comedian but Forest Whitaker was a huge surprise. His comedic timing was absolutely great. He held his own and you just wait anxiously for another scene between these two dads.

Bringing a sense of normalcy to Brad’s life and the entire bunch is his best friend from college and lawyer Angie played by actress Regina King (Southland, Miss Congeniality 2, Jerry Maguire, Enemy of the State). She manages to give everything in this film a sense of balance. I believe without her the film would have fallen short in several areas.

With only two weeks to REALLY understand and incorporate African American and Mexican traditions the families set about making sure each is represented on the big day.

A key scene that shines a brilliant light on the differences between the two is where Lucia, because she’s afraid to tell her dad that she’s dropped out of law school, stands by as he berates Marcus for being less of a man and volunteering in a foreign country and then ultimately living off of his daughter’s lawyer income. It is her Catholic upbringing, tight family bond coupled with their Mexican tradition that has created this level of fear and uncertainty that Marcus simply doesn’t get. He wanted her to stand up for him and she just couldn’t.