The Wilde Wedding (2017) User Reviews

All-Star Cast But Movie Rings Hollow

[larrys3 · 4/10 · 17 October 2017]

An all-star ensemble cast gathers at the palatial home of retired movie star Eve Wilde (Glenn Close), as she prepares to marry (her fifth) novelist Harold Alcott (Patrick Stewart). Close and John Malkovich,who portrays her first husband Laurence, are strong on screen, and I liked the performance of Yael Stone, as Clementine, one of Harold's daughters, in a supporting role.

However, despite the terrific cast, I found the film itself quite disappointing with almost all the characters self-indulgent and shallow. Their continuous attempts at having sexual flings get quite tedious.

Overall, this movie, written and directed by Damian Harris, just came across to me as hollow and soulless.

wrong perspective

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 30 November 2017]

Mackenzie Darling is filming her family as her movie star grandma Eve Wilde (Glenn Close) is getting married again. Her new groom is famed writer Harold Alcott (Patrick Stewart). Her first husband and first love Laurence Darling (John Malkovich) is still in the picture. There are cousins, uncles, and Mackenzie's divorced parents, Priscilla Jones (Minnie Driver) and Ethan Darling (Peter Facinelli).

Filmmaker Damian Harris is following the wrong characters. There are too many of them with too many relationships. I had trouble following the kids and some of the uncles. With the great cast up top, this should be concentrating more on the veteran love triangle. They should be the stars of the show. The writing is average at best. It's meandering and rambling. It's quirky without actually being funny. There are all kinds of possibilities that don't get enough nurturing. The biggest sin is wasting these great actors' time.

No, not Malkovich!

[nancyldraper · 6/10 · 28 September 2021]

Some great talent in this film, beginning, at the top, with Glenn Close. Unfortunately, the plot hangs on John Malkovich, and, for me, there was no reason to get behind a positive outcome that includes his character. Back to the great cast, though, the young cast were superb (Bridgette Lundy-Paine and Grace Van Patten) with Minnie Driver and Patrick Stewart showing off their comedic chops. The premise was predictable (no matter how much I yelled at the screen, "No, not Malkovich!") but most of the time, the characters were drawn to be unappealing, vapid and uninteresting. So, all thing considered, I give this film a 6 (fair) out of 10. {Romantic Comedy}

Don't waste your time

[soniaquebec · 2/10 · 11 August 2021]

Terrible movie. It's such a waste of good actors with those caricatural characters that are almost impossible to like. Plus who ever did the French dubbing needs to be fired, It was terrible, it's like they chose the most annoying voices that they could find. I give a 2 for the nice house.

Emulating Woody Allen

[Moviegoer19 · 7/10 · 17 September 2017]

I was going to start out saying this is a Woody Allen clone film, but then thought well, heck, there's a whole genre of films out there that I would call the upper-middle class family relationship genre. What usually implies Woody Allen is when they're set in New York, as this film is, and the family is Jewish, which was not stated in this film, nor was it not stated.

That said, The Wilde Wedding had much about it that kept me watching: good looking and interesting characters, some of whom are also celebrities in the arts and/or literature; pleasing physical settings in the suburbs and rural areas not far outside NYC; and ultimately, musings on the nature of love and marital relationships, and others, while the families act out some of these relationships.

What I especially liked about it was that even when things got somewhat strained between characters, overall the tone of the film was good-natured. There is some tongue-in-cheek humor, and some wine- and shroom- fueled antics which ultimately contribute to the overall happy mood.

Though it touches on some of the heavy subjects of life, highlighted with quotes by some of the heavies such as Shakespeare and Nietzsche, The Wilde Wedding is an hour and a half's worth of enjoyable film viewing.

Not funny

[l-iizzy · 3/10 · 18 March 2020]

Probably only funny if you're as stoned as the people in this movie are..

Where's Harold?

[gbkmmaurstad · 6/10 · 2 July 2018]

The Wilde wedding is that of Eve Wilde, a retired actress about to marry for the 4th time. Invited to the wedding is her ex-husband, her children, her grandchildren, her husband to be, his daughters, a few exes and a friend or two throw in. When introduced to guests/characters, a predictable chaos ensues. Harold (Patrick Stewart) is the groom to be who believes Eve will be the one to change him. Her ex-husband Laurence (John Malkovich) is both comfortable and uncomfortable as a guest in his own home.

The setting is supposedly in an upstate New York home, the grounds are beautiful, the home is spacious and classic. They all appear to be getting along until the pivotal event occurs, but of course you knew there would be one. It all ends as you think it will. Still I liked the film, why? Because it has some of my favorite actors in it and it didn't have some hidden meaning in the end. Good film with a glass of wine and an appetizer.

Suggestion: Pino grigio and crab dip

Too many cast members

[gwmbkm · 3/10 · 9 May 2020]

I read some of the previous reviews of this movie but - being a fan of the three stars - my husband and I decided to watch it last evening anyway. It was a shame that the basic premise (former movie star Eve/Glenn getting married for 4th time to writer Harold/Patrick while 1st husband Laurence/John is present as a friend of his ex-wife). Nice little premise that moves predictably through the script.

However, at least two of Eve's and Laurence's 3 adult son's plus their significant others and children and one of Harold's 2 adult daughters could have been eliminated from the picture all together as contributing nothing to the main plot but just adding to the movie's (and this viewer's) confusion.

Someone needed to take a red pen to this script before it began filming so that the focus would be where it belonged - on exploring the complicated relationship of Eve/Harold/Laurence and let these powerful stars shine instead of being relegated to bemused bystanders within their own storyline.

A film that gets stronger and stronger

[Gordon-11 · 19 September 2017]

This film tells the story of a seasoned actress, who is remarrying a man. Their families and ex spouses all converge for a weekend of wedding events, but things do not turn out as planned.

As with any film work a big cast and many characters, it is hard to develop all the characters and make people care about them. In here it is the same, the first hour basically it's a collage of one minute scenes of things that a character does. Sometimes I don't even know who that character is, so these characters become empty vessels that deliver a certain line or a joke.

Fortunately, the story gets better after it focuses on John Malkovich. I predicted the ending, but it still is a happy, heart warming ending that brings a smile to my face.

Some moments but not as funny as it could be

[phd_travel · 6/10 · 10 October 2017]

Glenn Close is wonderful in everything so it's worth watching for that. John Malkovich and her don't quite have a connection though. Neither gets the opportunity to shine,

The story is about a successful actress (Glenn Close) who is getting married to a novelist (Patrick Stewart) at her large home. Her ex husband (Malkovich) and their grown kids are in attendance as are his kids. Due to some accidentally ingested pot filled chocolates the night before some chaos ensues.

This kind of ensemble comedy with good actors sometimes works. There are some funny moments and dialog. Minnie Driver as an ex daughter in law shows off her singing talents. But there are some undeveloped story lines and characters perhaps because there are too many characters. Things aren't really funny either with middle aged and elderly people acting silly beyond their years.

The setting is lovely. The house is very attractively furnished and decorated.

Pleasant but not a must watch.

Nope.

[yyyechiav · 5/10 · 18 September 2017]

If it weren't for Minnie Driver I would've been bored out of my skull. My take away is that the lives of actors are excruciatingly boring. The actors do their job well and act but it's just sad and tedious. If I could only submit 3 lines my review would be completed but apparently a good review must contain more content than is necessary...sorta like this movie.

I berly give the movie 10 stars, but this one is a definite a 10

[srokajoanna · 10/10 · 23 March 2019]

Is this movie predictable from the start? Definitely Yes, but I enjoy every minute of it. It's got its charm. Glenn Close and John Malkovich are always a start to a good movie, but add few more gteat actors and quite funny script and tell the story with a little bit of distance, irony and subtle reference to some past roles of the two main actors, mix it with joy, soft and gentleness of all involved you will get a beautiful, fanny and very romantic movie which will take you by surprise. It took me. Thank you for that.

Malkovich and Close could read the weather for 2 hours and it would be captivating

[dreux · 6/10 · 2 July 2019]

Lucky for this movie then, because the dialog is at times forced, shallow and unrealistic. Regardless, it's enjoyable to see the greats do what they can with so little 'meat' to work with. Wasted talent.

An absolute stinker

[m0riarty · 2/10 · 8 July 2018]

The story is ripped from one of my all time favourites, Philadelphia Story and High Society. It has a fantastic cast that do the best with what they're given, which isn't very much, the script is a stinker! Totally fine for a hot sunday afternoon as long as you've nothing better to do.

too much

[nodttiurp · 4/10 · 21 January 2018]

It's another Hollywood movie about the blessed crowd. Too talented, too rich, too burdened with too much. A trauma and resolution after too much sex, too much booze, too much of drugs. A masturbatory achievement dream for the rest of us to admire. To bad.

Like it

[coskunsoyer · 7/10 · 16 August 2018]

I really liked the movie and I remember the masterpiece of Louis Malle which is "Milou in may". Only missing is musics of Stephan Grappelli.

VIEWS ON FILM review of The Wilde Wedding

[burlesonjesse5 · 4/10 · 7 January 2018]

Ex-wives, ex-husbands, sons and daughters of both, and close friends gather for the wedding of movie siren Eve Wilde (Glenn Close) and writer Harold Alcott (Patrick Stewart with goofy hairdo in tote). For 95 minutes, the drunk jibber-jabber and suggested amour just goes on and on. That's the gist of The Wilde Wedding, my latest review.

So OK, wanna recipe for an exasperating, comic misfire with a screw loose ending and some out of place narration? Just hire big name stars and an unknown director. Yeah you know I'm talking about The Wilde Wedding.

The Wild Wedding is weddings gone wild! It's like a slight makeover of 2013's The Big Wedding. I disliked The Big Wedding and remembered being incredibly vexed by it. As for The Wilde Wedding, well I disliked that flick just as much.

"Wilde" has well-known actors and C-list culprits looking lost. They are in a film full of bare-bones plot points and smug personalities. I mean come on, what was the real basis for making The Wilde Wedding? It never saw the light of day in theaters anyway and for good reason.

Director Damian Harris provides lackadaisical direction along with the tired adage of an occasional documentary feel (those darn video cameras). His "Wilde" also contains too many characters, incestuous relationships, visible texting, drug use, moonlight sex, and the infrequent mosaic of overlapping dialogue. About the only thing truly memorable in "Wilde", is its scenery which consists of naturally pretty, Ardsley, New York.

All in all, The Wilde Wedding with its co-stars consisting of John Malkovich ("Wilde's" only charismatic performance), Minnie Driver, and Noah Emmerich, is like a more sophisticated version of 2017's Mad Families (my pick for worst film of this year). That doesn't mean I'm giving it any compliments. Rating: 1 and a half stars.

What did I watch?

[HorribleDrBones · 1/10 · 8 May 2020]

There are so many undeveloped characters and the plot is so convoluted that it's a chore trying to figure out how each person is related to the others. At one point Patrick Stewart has sex with his daughter's friend and ruins the wedding. Also first cousins end up being intimate with each other. More hollywood deviance as always.

When they were young

[dierregi · 5/10 · 12 July 2020]

The best thing about this movie is a slight scent of nostalgia for Malkovich and Close as young actors. They worked together in the memorable Dangerous Liaisons and they're best remembered in that masterpiece.

However, time passes by so quickly and in this film Close plays Eve, a big, pluri-divorced movie star, while Malkovich is Laurence, her first husband and a slight caricature of himself, as a famous theatre actor with bigger professional reputation, but not Eve's fame or money. They both are good and so is Patrick Stewart, the British would be fifth husband.

Gathering to Eve's house before the wedding, these older characters acknowledge that their life is drawing to a close and they must find a way to deal with the dwindling time they have left.

Unfortunately, philosophical speculation is just a short interlude in a plot filled with too many characters. Coming to the wedding are Eve and Laurence's three grown-up sons, all single or divorced, their children, one ex-wife, plus the groom's two daughters and a truckload of young, half-naked female friends and lesbian lovers.

Most of the plot feels like a nightmare where you forget the name of the people they've just introduced and their relations to each other, while all the characters seem busy having casual sex with each other.

Probably that's the way it goes in the world of rockstars, famous novelist and movie stars, but that doesn't necessarily make a good movie. Shame about the mediocre script that suffocates Malkovich and Close's performances.

Enjoy watching this movie since I found it on Amazon Prime.

[hombreenelbarco · 9/10 · 9 April 2020]

I have watched Damian Harris' "The Wilde Wedding" almost daily in my home office (social distancing) since I recently found it on Amazon Prime. It's fun watch as well as listen to. (Still waiting for a soundtrack to come out Mr. Harris!). PT Walkley did a great job with the score and song selections here. (Minnie Driver covers a couple songs that are not to be missed). I enjoyed all of the characters, the mix of writers, actors, composers and performers. Each scene filled with interactions of friends, family and ex-spouses who still get along and enjoy each other's company on some level. It's a real party!

Mildly insulting for us non-celebrity types

[drnossal · 4/10 · 31 January 2019]

Stinker unless you get off on the trials of rich white people problems where every character is an oversexed, morally-devoid actor, artist, writer or musician. Maybe if the film had tried harder to send up these overstuffed egotists it would have been worthwhile, instead we get a schooling in the difficult life of a drug-addled celebrity.

A Family Surprisingly Okay With Having Screwed Up Sex Lives

[SeanZachel · 4/10 · 11 March 2023]

We're told this film is about a retired actress who divorced an actor and is going to marry a famous writer. We're also told that her daughter is a famous rock star divorced from her band mate who is also a rock star. In spite of being told all this, it's not conveyed enough in the plot and it's simply not believable.

Oh, and everyone seems to be sleeping with everyone else while staying in Eve's country home before the wedding. Plenty of drug and alcohol use also goes on. Too bad the only substance in this movie is what's being abused for a buzz.

With an A-list cast, you'd hope the content would be better but you can't act your way out of a script devoid of genuine content. Instead you get a sexploitation comedy without any good jokes. And even though there's plenty of scandalous activity, none of the characters seem to have real human emotion and casually accept events that would lead to chairs being thrown if this was the Jerry Springer Show. The only reason to watch this bomb is if you're a fan of any of the stars and to gawk at attractive people.

A Waste of Resources

[seiersenwhite · 3/10 · 4 June 2023]

An unfocused, shallow and uninteresting film, lacking purpose and point The characters are cliches: the movie star, the philanderer writer, the egotistical actor etc, with no opportunity to see past these stereotypes.

The movie loses focus when it doesn't have a character; the comedy, drama, profound scenes don't go anywhere, they all stay superficial due to poor dialogues and depthless directing.

There are amazing actors who have shown their talent through the years, unfortunately these same actors are to curated; aesthetic is chosen over acting.

The mature cast has no relevant interaction with the middle aged nor younger cast. So there are not many laughs, tears, surprise, suspense through the whole emotionless film. There is not much sympathy for the characters who don't generate connection between themselves and less so with the audience.

There is not much of a climax or a build up, just people doing their lines, with no apparent reason to be, to do; there is no evolution, redemption, in any one of these characters .

Good music, beautiful house and scenery; but any incredible waste of these for such a bland movie, a huge squandering of talented actors because they were kept "pretty" rather than capitalizing on their proven talent.

You STILL can't go home again!

[lmason60 · 2/10 · 5 May 2020]

A remake of "The Big Chill", including Glenn Close. All those memories, put to no good use. A piece only for nostalgia bluffs.

Suggests a wildness never reached

[shakercoola · 5/10 · 16 November 2018]

An American romantic comedy. A story about a famous actress who is getting married for the fourth time but invited to the wedding his her first husband; sexual tension and romance spread amongst the two families and assembled guests. This is a film that suggests more than it delivers. There is merriment and cheerfulness as young and old mix, mildly risque behaviour, and singing and dancing between scenes of navel gazing and reflection. But, there's not enough for the viewer to hook on to, just mini-stories and mini-conflcts that leave the viewer as distant observer. The performances are good but it never really escapes the orbit of its ordinary script despite a sassy dialogue and a few humorous skits.