You’re Cordially Invited (2025)
Directed by: Nicholas Stoller
Premise: A small resort is accidentally double booked for simultaneous weddings. The father of one bride (Will Ferrell) battles the sister of the other bride (Reese Witherspoon) for control of the facilities.
What Works: You’re Cordially Invited is the story of two families. Their internal dynamics and conflicts are the strongest portion of the film. Each family is distinct with specific conflicts. Will Ferrell is cast as the father of the bride played by Geraldine Viswanathan and they have a very loving and close relationship, partly owing to the wife and mother being deceased. The outward displays of affection disguise a tension in the father-daughter relationship. He is terrified of losing his only child and she bears the emotional weight of their relationship. Reese Witherspoon plays the sister of the other bride. Witherspoon’s character is an unmarried and childless career woman who takes on the wedding planning duties for her sister but the extended family is a bit toxic and passive aggressive. These intrafamily conflicts come to a head over the course of the weekend and they are much more interesting than the fights between the families. The story gives each family an emotional claim to the venue. Ferrell’s character married his wife at this location and Witherspoon’s character and her family spent their summers here. This personalizes the conflict and gives their intransigence some credibility.
What Doesn’t: The conflict between Ferrell and Witherspoon’s characters is the main focus of You’re Cordially Invited and it is forced. The characters simultaneously discover they’ve been double booked and just as quickly come up with what should be an amicable solution. The filmmakers then try to concoct ways to keep up the conflict but it feels artificial. The forced nature of their relationship is especially evident in the ending; the final resolution for Ferrell and Witherspoon’s characters is not believable at all. You’re Cordially Invited struggles with pacing. The movie feels padded and a lot of the conflicts and set pieces are drawn out. The picture is intermittently funny and a few of the jokes really land but there is a lot of downtime between laughs. You’re Cordially Invited mixes comedy with family drama and the transitions are frequently inelegant. The drama between Ferrell and Viswanathan’s characters is especially awkward as the movie alternates between moments of tenderness and grief and silly pratfall comedy. The film also struggles to meld the sweetness of its romantic moments with vulgar humor. The contrast is intended to be funny, and sometimes it is, but the clash of tones is also jarring in a way that is aesthetically unpleasant.
Disc extras: Available on Amazon Prime Video.
Bottom Line: You’re Cordially Invited is a mediocre version of much more successful nuptial comedies such as Meet the Parents and Wedding Crashers. This film is occasionally funny but it is also baggy and suffers from a mismanaged tone.
Episode: #1037 (March 2, 2025)