Susan Granger’s review of “You’re Cordially Invited” (Amazon Studios)
For years, studio strategy included releasing a star-studded romantic comedy for Valetine’s Day weekend. But Amazon’s Will Ferrell/Reese Witherspoon “You’re Cordially Invited” is a dismal mess.
Widower Jim (Ferrell) is an overly devoted father to Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan); since the death of his wife/her mother many years ago, Jenni has been the center of his life and he’s become creepily co-dependent on her.
So when Jenni returns to their home in Atlanta with a diamond engagement ring on her finger and her DJ fiancé Oliver (Stony Blyden) in tow, Jim immediately books a June 1st destination wedding at the Palmetto House, an idyllic inn on the small Georgia island where he married her mother decades earlier.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, Margot (Witherspoon), a high-powered reality TV executive, is planning the Palmetto House nuptials of her younger sister Neve (Meredith Hagner) to her Chippendale’s dancer boyfriend Dixon (Jimmy Tatro) on the same date.
When these two disparate groups arrive on the island, the accidental double-booking is revealed, creating an extremely awkward situation since there can be only one wedding at a time at the resort – and both are determined to use the picturesque pier at sunset.
While a compromise is negotiated, chaos results when Margot and Jim each strive for dominance within their respective extended families, eventually resulting in plans to sabotage each other, only to discover – in a bizarre third-act twist – they they’re romantically attracted to one another.
Yet the only glimpse of their improbable and unconvincing romantic chemistry is glimpsed during the end credits.
Written and directed by Nick Stoller (“Forgetting Sarah Marshall”), it’s simply one of the world’s worst wedding comedies, despite memorable turns from Celia Weston as a starchy Southern matriarch and Leanne Morgan as sex-starved Aunt Gwyneth – plus senseless cameos from NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and musician Nick Jonas s Pastor Luther.
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “You’re Cordially Invited” is a flimsy, floundering 4. It’s streaming on Prime Video so I’d advise sending regrets.
