The Wedding Planner (2001)

Director:

Adam Shankman

Writers (WGA):

Pamela Falk (written by) &
Michael Ellis (written by)

Release Date:

26 January 2001 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

His big day is her big problem.

Plot:

Mary Fiore is the wedding planner. She's ambitious, hard-working, extremely organized, and she knows...

Plot Keywords:

Wedding | Doctor | Gown | Arranged Marriage | Dumpster

Awards:

1 win & 3 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. Dec. 5	8:00 PM	OXYGEN
Sat. Dec. 5	10:30 PM	OXYGEN

Cast

Jennifer Lopez	...	Mary Fiore
Matthew McConaughey	...	Steve Edison
Bridgette Wilson	...	Fran Donolly (as Bridgette Wilson-Sampras)
Justin Chambers	...	Massimo
Judy Greer	...	Penny
Alex Rocco	...	Salvatore
Joanna Gleason	...	Mrs. Donolly
Charles Kimbrough	...	Mr. Donolly
Kevin Pollak	...	Dr. John Dojny
Fred Willard	...	Basil St. Mosely
Lou Myers	...	Burt Weinberg
Frances Bay	...	Dottie
Kathy Najimy	...	Geri
Cortney Shounia	...	Mary Fiore - Age 7
Philip Pavel	...	Benton

Also Known As:

Wedding Planner - verliebt, verlobt, verplant (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and some sexual humor.

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Germany | USA

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Iceland:L | South Korea:12 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:M (original rating) | Australia:PG (cable rating) | Brazil:12 | Chile:TE | Finland:S | France:U | Germany:o.Al. | Hong Kong:IIA | Hungary:14 | Netherlands:AL | Norway:A | Peru:PT | Singapore:PG | Spain:T | Sweden:Btl | Switzerland:7 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:7 (canton of Vaud) | UK:PG (cut) | USA:PG-13

Filming Locations:

Crystal Spring Lakes, San Mateo County, California, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Brendan Fraser was set to play the role of Dr. Steve/Eddie, but scheduling conflicts with filming the movie Bedazzled (2000) prevented him.

Goofs:

Factual errors: After the dance lesson when Fran says Eddie will have to take off work on Friday to go inspect the vineyard as a possible wedding site, he says he can't because he has a diverticulitis seminar. It would be highly unlikely that he would be attending such as seminar if he was a pediatrician since diverticular disease is uncommon before the age of forty.

Quotes:

Steve: Fran is great. But... what if what I think is great really is great, but not as great as something greater?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Villains (#6.20)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

A Groovy Kind Of Love

Unfortunately, this movie just fell below my already low expectations.

This is one of those movies that you rent/watch for your significant other. I rented it for my wife since most of my movies as of recent have been mostly for me. However, I tried to keep an open mind and give it a fair shake. Unfortunately, this movie just fell below my already low expectations. First time director and first time screenwriters, what can you expect?

The script was just not believable. I know that romantic comedies have the liberty of taking some license here and there, but I just didn't buy so much of this movie that the whole thing just seemed fake. For starters, we're supposed to believe that Jennifer Lopez is an Italian immigrant? Come on! Her father (Alex Rocco) doesn't sound Italian, he sounds retarded. I don't even know why she had to be an immigrant. There was nothing in the plot that required her being from another country, except for the fact that her father trys to arrange a marriage, which was just another unnecessary plot device. There's just so much that was wrong with this script, I'm just amazed that the leading actors signed on to this project.

The talent in this movie was fairly decent. Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey had some chemistry and they looked good together. Kathy Najimy is a wonderful comedic actress and her scene with Jennifer was very good and believable. Fred Willard, and Kevin Pollak are the other actors that do comedic roles extremely well, but their talents were simply not tapped. They did what they could, but they simply had nothing to work with. IMHO I think Jennifer Lopez signed on because she was friends with Adam Shankman (he's a choreographer) and once she signed on, everyone else jumped on board for their resume.