Beautiful Wedding – Film Review

Beautiful Wedding is a romantic drama directed by Roger Kumble, a continuation of the Beautiful Disaster series based on Jamie McGuire’s 2013 novel, A Beautiful Wedding. With co-writer McGuire, the pair paint a disjointed love story trying to be dramatic and grand but, sadly, often misses the mark, ending up being clumsy and uncomfortable at times.

After the high-energy climax of Beautiful Disaster, fans expected a similarly crazy follow-up. However, Beautiful Wedding appears to flounder in its own lack of direction. The premise starts with an unexpected hitch – Abby (Virginia Gardner) and Travis (Dylan Sprouse) wake up as newlyweds after a reckless night in Las Vegas. However, it all goes downhill from there.

While it tries to serve as a bridge to give fans closure on the explosive relationship of Travis and Abby, the film feels forced, almost as if the chemistry that was undeniable in the first film dissipated with the Vegas sunset. Both Gardner and Sprouse fail to impress, offering uninspired performances, clearly struggling to sell the threadbare narrative to their audience. Despite a commendable effort, they end up seeming more estranged than star-crossed.

Libe Barer‘s performance as America Mason is the lone shining star. With a charmingly headstrong and free-spirited attitude, Barer infuses an energy into the narrative that’s severely lacking from the leads. Sadly, the writing for her character was equally lacking, missing out on a real opportunity to make America a much stronger and independent character than Abby.

Similarly, Austin North’s performance as Shepley Maddox does add some appeal to the proceedings but can’t save this ship from sinking. In contrast to the core relationship in focus, Shepley’s scenes come off more believable, showcasing an authenticity in North’s performance that seems conspicuously absent from the main leads.

The narrative thread left much to be desired. Much of the first half was littered with needless sequences that failed to provide anything substantive. The humor fell flat, while dramatic tension seemed misplaced and jarring. The chemistry and connection that Abby and Travis were supposed to share felt oddly artificial, robbing the plot of a genuinely engaging emotional arc.

The film’s pacing felt clunky and poorly managed. Large portions of the film revolved around mind-numbing filler content, and it only occasionally dips into anything meaningful. Even moments that could have offered a semblance of an emotional punch were underplayed or handled with such mawkish sentimentality that they bordered on trite.

The film lacks a cohesive direction and coherent storytelling. While Kumble’s directing style worked decently in the first installment, in Beautiful Wedding, he appeared lost in a plot devoid of any sensible thread, coming across more confused than the storyline he was supposed to mold.

Perhaps one of the movie’s greatest shortcomings lies in its treatment of its source material. Fans of McGuire’s novel will find the on-screen representation grossly inadequate, leaving many crucial moments of the book barely recognizable.

Technically, the film is sound but bland, featuring routine cinematography and color palette. The music doesn’t stand out either, serving as background noise without amplifying or adding to the onscreen drama.

Beautiful Wedding falls way short of its predecessor, which wasn’t good either. It appears like a reluctant and belated follow-up rather than a legitimate progression of the plot. Barring the occasional sincere performance from its secondary cast, this sequel disappoints on nearly every level – narratively, thematically, and performance-wise. Unless you’re a diehard fan, it’s best to steer clear of this movie and cherish your fond memories of Beautiful Disaster. The beautiful mess in the first part is nothing compared to the disaster in this installment. Beautiful Wedding, unfortunately, does not offer a ‘happily ever after’.