Overall Grade: (C+)
A pretty simple plot filled with enough jokes to incite a few chuckles along the way to result in a mindless but feel good comedy.
Kevin Hart continues to relish his moment in the spot light with a film that would be his first leading role without the benefit of a larger co-star. In his first attempt to carry a film on his own he clearly delivered. This was not a horrible film by any means, sure it’s predictable and you can see the plot twist (if you can call it that) coming from the instant it is hinted.
But still there is enough in this one to make it worth a one-time watch. Kevin Hart and Josh Gad share some good chemistry and the result is a pair of likable characters you can actually stick around long enough to see if your third-act predictions will be correct.
The comedic attempts are right in your face and clearly not framed out in subtle wit. The cheap laughs are build from racial, sexual and drug related humor, the same old well many other films in the genre tend to draw from. But still, many do deliver a laugh or two which carry you through the story-line. This was a film that in the end was half story-line and half Kevin Hart stand-up, and it worked for the most part as Hart did deliver a charming and fun role.
His co-star Josh Gad also provided some laughs along the way and was still able to provide the film with his brand of comedy as well. Together they were a fun pairing onscreen and will make you chuckle more than a few times given you do not overthink the film in general. “The Wedding Ringer” is what it wanted to be, a typical comedy that will entertain enough to fill the run-time and not feel like a waste of time.
The premise was interesting, the plot of hiring a best-man was fun for this one and it set-up one comedic punch after the other. The rest of the cast was fun as well and the ragtag band of misfits Hart’s characters puts together as the groom’s bridal party was odd, quirky and funny in a dumb way. Placing odd characters in films has been done before, (i.e. “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story”) but for that matter there were a lot of things in this film that have been done before.
In the end the cast was fun and each of them were given glimpses of time to add some jokes and funny moments to the script. Kaley Cuoco-Sweeting on the other hand was not the strong female lead the film wanted. Her role was exactly the same as her character on “Big Bang Theory” with an R-rated filter. While this movie was not amazing it was still exactly what you can expect from the cast, the trailer and the plot.
If you are at all familiar with the players in the movie then you will be certain to get exactly what you will expect. If you are looking for intelligent and witty humor you will certainly want to look elsewhere but if you want some turn-your-brain-off humor to pass the time this one will not disappoint and by the time the credits begin to scroll you will have rolled your eyes, chuckled, laughed and shaken your head more than a few times, while still enjoying the film as a whole.