The Film
For a movie about a spontaneous marriage proposal, the stakes feel pretty low in Wedding Daze, essentially a direct-to-video 2006 film that somehow managed to snag a Blu-ray upgrade. And actually, it’s the film’s low-key nature that helps it become a rather charming, if hardly earth-shattering little comedy. An approach that tried harder would likely flatten the very thin premise.
Written and directed by Michael Ian Black, Wedding Daze (which was originally titled The Pleasure of Your Company and later, The Next Girl I See) begins with a disastrous marriage proposal by Anderson (Jason Biggs) to girlfriend Vanessa (Audra Blaser) that ends in her death.
A year later, he’s still heartbroken and devastated, with friend Ted (Michael Weston) unable to do anything to break him out of the funk. In a moment of desperation/stupidity that the film thankfully doesn’t try too hard to explain, Anderson blurts out a proposal to their waitress, Katie (Isla Fisher), who is just confused enough with her own life to accept.
Initially, both demur, passing off the incident as a joke, but eventually decide to go through with it, leaving their friends and family in a state of shock. The film colors in the details with some fun supporting performances by Joe Pantoliano as Katie’s convict dad who breaks out of jail to see her get married and Edward Herrmann and Margo Martindale as Anderson’s still-frisky parents.
The film doesn’t pull out any real surprises, with the eventual law-breaking, cross-country road trip hitting all the expected beats. That doesn’t stop the film from being sweetly funny, with Biggs’ nervous energy being used for good rather than evil and Fisher’s downright adorability being well, adorable.
Wedding Daze is the kind of easily digestible romantic comedy that won’t leave the bitter aftertaste of regret, and sometimes, that’s exactly the kind of movie you need.
The Blu-ray Disc
Wedding Daze is presented in 1080p high definition with an aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The film is far from a visual knockout, so while the high-def image here is technically good, it’s still not terribly impressive. Colors are strong and vibrant, with skin tones looking natural and consistent. The image displays solid clarity and sharpness that certainly improves upon DVD quality. This is likely going to be a low-priority upgrade title for even those who like the film, but if you do finally get around to picking it up, you should be satisfied.
The 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track is a mostly front channel affair, with occasional effects making their way to the surrounds. Dialogue is clean and clear throughout.
Special Features
A couple of deleted scenes are included.
The Bottom Line
Sure, my expectations were low going in, but even considering that, Wedding Daze is a rather charming, if rote, romantic comedy.
