Kiss the Bride (2002) User Reviews

Needs jokes

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 17 December 2013]

The Sposato sisters are returning to the family home to attend Danni's (Amanda Detmer) wedding. The oldest Nikki (Brooke Langton) is in a sexy TV show as eye candy. Chrissy (Vanessa Parise) is a high power investment banker on Wall Street. The youngest Toni (Monet Mazur) is still trying to shock bringing her lesbian lover Amy (Alyssa Milano).

It's a lot of sisterly function and dysfunction. This is low budget indie with its heart in the right place. Everybody has a problem, and everybody has to work through it. The missing element is the comedy. There may be a few cute moments, but there isn't a real funny joke in this. I don't know if writer/director/actor Vanessa Parise has it in her, but this script is in need of a funny writer. The jokes would counter balance the more serious stuff. It would make the movie more poignant.

adorable predictability

[marebp · 6/10 · 3 April 2005]

this is the perfect "sit on the couch on a Sunday" movie. the characters, although stereotypical, are each rather endearing. the extended family is fun to watch,as it offers some insight into the traditional Italian family. the sisters deal with the same issues that many modern day siblings tackle, i.e. the pressure to leave home and find success rather than attempt to remain in their small town and find it where their roots are. unfortunately, the movie is predictable, as my girlfriends and i had the majority of the ending pegged in the first half hour. it does it's job as a light and airy way to spend two hours. enjoy.

no knowledge of Catholicism

[deborahirwin · 5/10 · 14 February 2017]

I don't understand why movies try to portray characters of a certain religion when they don't know anything about the religion. I saw the sign of the cross made with the left hand, heard that the church is wrong in teaching that marital intercourse should not be enjoyed (what?!? the Church doesn't teach that at all!), and a supposed Catholic conservative couple get married outside the Church. It takes minimal knowledge to know these and yet they didn't bother to figure it out. It was a cheesy, brainless movie otherwise. If you are looking for a predictable movie that doesn't require your full attention, then this could be what you are seeking.

Cheesy and Horrible

[yespat · 1/10 · 20 April 2008]

This film is shockingly bad. A complete waste of life. Don't make the same mistake I did by watching it. The actors were bad, the music was bad, the story was worse than anything else. It was put together like a high school project. Shocking how bad this film is. One of the worst I've ever seen. I cannot understand how it got any favorable reviews.

It felt like a really bad B movie. The dialogue was completely contrived and predictable. The syrupy sweet family scenes are so unrealistically wonderful that their unreality is grating. And I wonder how many families siblings are all stunningly beautiful and highly economically successful---aka Rich Rich Rich?

It's the kind of movie that insults one's intelligence over and over. It is completely brain dead and useless. Save yourself from this mess.

A nice and honest movie about friendships, family, and true love

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 7/10 · 7 March 2006]

I am a huge fan of Sean Patrick Flanery, I am not kidding. His work and not to mention his beautiful looks always get me, and when I noticed at Hollywood Video they had Kiss the Bride, I didn't hesitate to pick it up and watch it at home. Yes, I was a bit shallow, I kinda watched it just to see Sean, because I love him so. But I got more than that, I got an nice and honest movie about sisterhood and how differences can tear and pull back together a family. The acting and movie in general is a good one with some water wrenching moments. Although there were a few things they could have patched up, like some of the plots were not ending well or the characters could have been more developed, over all this is a movie I would recommend for a watch.

7/10

Proof that writer/directors should not act in their own films...

[vance1975 · 1/10 · 15 February 2005]

I had the unfortunate experience of watching a screener version of this movie. Not that long into an already bad film, I was so distracted by the performance of one the sisters, that it made everything else fade into insignificance. The "actress" who plays one of the leads -- a have-it-all high powered exec, who comes home for her sister's wedding -- does such a terrible job that it literally makes you wonder how this woman was cast in the first place. However, If you keep watching there is an answer (which is the only satisfying conclusion to watching this film until the end): in the credits, you realize that the actress is also the writer/director, and all of a sudden Vanessa Parise's unwatchable performance makes sense (it doesn't bode well for the people who worked on this film that no one told her the nasal valley girl thing just doesn't work for this role).

Too bad -- the rest of cast is decent; Alyssa Milano, Talia Shire, Burt Young, Jonathan Schaechter, Brooke Langton -- though you can see that they don't know what to do with the clichéd script (let's not get started on the script). And what's with the soundtrack? Like Parise's acting, it's just amateur and self conscious. I would almost recommend this film just as a lesson in what-not-to-do-in-your-first-film Guide.

For the love of God, don't waste your time!

[oakhillfound · 1/10 · 14 October 2006]

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I submit that this is one of the worst films of the 21st century. Insipid plotting and dialog and inefficient acting even from seasoned pros like Talia Shire and Burt Young. This was advertised as a feel-good romantic comedy. If this is a feel-good comedy, then "War and Peace" must've been a laugh riot.

Granted, this film garnered an 'R' rating for good reasons. There are scenes of drug use and gratuitous nudity which, frankly, did not advance the plot one whit. The entire film seemed to flirt with borderline porn in both the editing and the directing and the music on the soundtrack seemed to be for a different movie altogether.

Please do not waste your time on this movie. It will be ninety minutes of your life you can never get back!

One of the worst movies I've ever seen.

[rosanahermann · 1/10 · 24 November 2003]

As I watched the movie I noticed there was something really wrong about it. The script, the casting, the cuts. So, as I checked on imdb to find out who wrote it. Well, Vanessa Parise wrote it, produced it, directed and acted in this...autobiographycal ego-trip trash. Maybe the title should be "all about myself, according to myself"

A romance/ life movie about 4 sisters trying to come to terms with themselves and each other.

[Merrick00 · 8/10 · 10 April 2005]

I work at a video store and thus get free rentals. I picked up "Kiss the Bride" on a whim. Lately I have been coming on IMDb right as I start a movie and when I saw the 5.5 rating I almost didn't bother watching it, but as I had nothing better to do I watched it anyway (anything is better than homework right?) Anyway, I started watching it and was pleasantly surprised. It is a fairly light hearted romance, but it had such a true life aspect to it that i felt that anyone could relate to someone in the film and thus it would resonate that much closer to people. You have these four very different sisters who grew up in a very traditional Catholic Italian family, they went their separate ways when they reached adulthood and are all now reuniting for the wedding of the one sister who never left the family or the families values behind. It shows all the closeness sisters can have with out being syrupy and while showing the conflicts and the competitiveness they feel to each other. People have complained it is a rip off of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". But it is not. This is a much more simpler film. Yes you have a big family and the groom-to-be becomes a part of it but this movie is just more realistic. I'd definitely recommend it to someone who wants to laugh a little maybe cry a bit and just have a good time watching a fun movie. It's not over the top like "My Best Friends Wedding" and it just is a gem of a film. I don't know just my thoughts and feelings...

This movie was absolutely horrible dont waste you time!

[brandon-kaplan · 10 January 2004]

I saw this film at the Sarasota film festival last year. it was the opening film. I was excited to see it since it was the opener of the festival but was quite shocked to see how pitiful the storyline was! It was a complete ripoff of My Big Fat Greek Wedding! I am so surprised that such an amatuer filmmaker got to have the opening film!! The jokes were weak, acting was poor, storyling was cliche and boring, characterization was missing, and I left questioning how this film got made...

Kiss the Cutting Room Floor

[neftin2005 · 1/10 · 9 February 2004]

This film is absolutely unenjoyable. If you liked "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", then you won't like this movie. If you didn't like "Greek Wedding", then don't go near this film with a 10-foot pole. The paper- thin storyline disappears as the director peppers the film with meaningless segues and tired old jokes. Many scenes seem to divert into these near-blooper reels of the actors giggling and rambling on. It's almost as if the director was so in love with her film that she forgot to make it watchable for the general public.

That's probably why you've never seen it. Justice has been served.

Enjoyed it somewhat more than I expected from its IMDb rating.

[TxMike · 26 March 2005]

My wife brought this DVD home, unable to find anything better. It is a movie mainly for the women, from their point of view, written and directed by Vanessa Parise who also plays one of the sisters, Chrissy. The story is based loosely on her own Rhode Island Italian family. I found it an interesting viewing, although there is nothing really new here.

Amanda Detmer plays 'Danni' Sposato, and as the movie opens we see her dressed in a wedding gown, on a balcony near the sea, looking for the groom. We suspect she may have been "left at the altar", but don't find out right away as the entire movie is one 85-minute flashback to the previous couple of days, as Danni's sisters come home to help her celebrate. Sure, it was a movie gimmick, but it worked OK.

SPOILERS. At the end we see that Danni's whole family, along with the groom and the priest, have gathered on the sand to be a part of her wedding. This came after her rehearsal party from hell the night before where everyone was so concerned about their own situations that they were not celebrating Danni's big moment and she told them all to leave.

Sean Patrick Flanery, who had been so good as "Powder", and also as Young Indy in the early 1990s, played Tom Terranova, old boyfriend of one of the sisters, Niki, the smart one who went off to Hollywood and now was in a Baywatch type of TV series. (Writer Parise was a smart one, set to go to Harvard Medical School, when she turned to acting.) Talia Shire, of Rocky fame, plays the mother.

I like Amanda Detmer, she is cute as a button and a good actress to boot!

Worse than Horrible

[magicninjaix · 1/10 · 9 February 2005]

To be quite honest, this was one of the worst movies that I have ever seen in my ENTIRE life. The only reason that I picked up the movie was because it had Sean Patrick Flanery (Boondock Saints) in it and I was curious to see his role in a such a film.

First of all, the movie was slower than hell. It seemed like the movie had no plot and all the scenes were ten minutes longer than they needed to be; some needed not be present at all.

Secondly, it was like they fired the screenwriter and had a 12 year old kid finish the dialogue--truly uninspired. Thirdly, I had to fight falling asleep after the first twenty minutes (@ 7:00 in the evening). The only thing i could really say good about the film is Flanery though he played a small role in the film, acted very well. He was the only one who gave a consistent effort to not suck ass and i wish i could hug him for it.

STAY AWAY FROM THIS FILM!!!!

Worst film ever

[meselfless · 1/10 · 24 December 2003]

I was out today with an old friend of mine and she really wanted to watch a movie, I wasn't particularly interested in seeing anything so I let her decide, she came out of the video store with a movie that had Alyssa Milano in it, so I knew it would be bad. I was wrong, the movie wasn't just bad, it was terrible, we even broke into her dad's place to watch it on his TV, I crawled through a window for this? I feel like I have wasted a large chunk of my life, and I want it back. I will never have this hour and a half back again so spare yourselves the same suffering I have encountered would you?

I can't even be bothered to tell you what was terrible about it in detail because the whole movie was a disaster. There was one good thing about this movie though, the girl who plays the youngest sister is really hot.

0.5/10

Not impressed

[monsterhmd · 5/10 · 14 May 2011]

I discovered this movie because one of my friends' last name is Sposato, and upon entering his name into Wikipedia he found this movie about a Sposato family set in Westerly, coincidentally our home town. I saw that Sean Patrick Flanery, one of my favorite actors, was in it, and I decided to rent this movie from Netflix. Altogether, I was not impressed. First of all, Sean Patrick Flanery is one hundred percent Irish, in case you couldn't tell, and he simply cannot pull off a character named Terranova. It just can't be done. While the movie was allegedly filmed in Westerly, Rhode Island, my friends and I recognized only one setting, and that was a brief three-second drive through down town. The portrayal of an Italian-American family was poorly done. No self respecting Italian with grandparents that came from Italy would call said grandparents "Grandma" and "Grandpa." The behavior of three of the four sisters would not be acceptable in an Italian-American home. Also, the general characterization and plot were poorly developed. Most of the characters were lifeless and flat, and the climax was so obvious it was like the script said, "Insert horribly cliché climax here." While the movie had some funny bits, some romantic bits, and some clever Italian bits, all in all it was not very impressive.

Fun (but weird) casting in a movie that has its moments

[juneebuggy · 5/10 · 25 February 2015]

From 2002, this was an okay movie. It's a cute, slice of life surrounding an Italian-American family as they prepare for the wedding of one of the three daughters.

It has a huge cast most, of which I recognized from assorted movie and TV projects. Oddly the mother and father of the bride here are Talia Shire & Burt Young aka Adrian and Paulie of 'Rocky' fame (where they play brother and sister). This was fun casting but honestly a little weird and just felt ...well wrong.

Alyssa Milano was very good here as the youngest daughter who arrives on a motorcycle with her girlfriend. I also enjoyed Sean Patrick Flanery and Frances Bay as grandma. 08.11

A Lovely Low Budget Movie About Family, Relationship, Feelings and Love

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 28 March 2004]

In Rhode Island, in the Italo-American family Sposato, Danni (Amanda Detmer) is going to marry Geoffrey Brancato (Johnathon Schaech). Danni is virgin, lives with her parents Santo (Burt Young) and Irena (Talia Shire) and is the third and 'the good daughter' of her family. Her three sisters come for her wedding: the older Nikki (the gorgeous Brooke Langton), a successful TV starlet, who works in a TV show very similar to 'Baywatch'. Nikki brings her boy-friend and manager Marty Weinberg (Johnny Whitworth) to be introduced to her family. Chrissy (Vanessa Parise), who deals with investments in Wall Street; and the rebel younger Toni (Monet Mazur), who plays in a rock-and- roll band with her lesbian lover Amy Kayne (Alissa Milano). Together, they have meals in the restaurant of Tom Terranova (Sean Patrick Flanery), the former and first love of Nikki. Many discussions in the breast of the Sposato family show wounds not healed, when the characters expose their real feelings.

This lovely low budget movie is a gem about themes related to family, relationship, love, feeling, religion and sex. I respect, but do not understand the unfair 'IMDB User Rating' of only 5.6, specially after seeing the 'Demographic Breakdown', the 'Arithmetic Mean' of 7.8 and the 'Median' of 9. The story about a Latin Catholic family is wonderful and the performances of the beautiful cast are excellent. There is romance, comedy and drama in right doses. I was particularly impressed with the beauty of Brooke Langton, and the wonderful smile of Vanessa Parise. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'O Beijo da Noiva' ('The Kiss of the Bride')

A Great Movie

[letrptjohn · 10/10 · 15 April 2005]

I rented three DVDs the other night and saw "Kiss the Bride" sitting on the shelf with plenty of available copies. I grabbed one because it was there. I thought it would be a funny wedding movie my wife would like to see. I put off watching it until I had seen the other two "great works of art" I had rented.

"Kiss the Bride" is one of the best movies I have ever seen. It is perfection. Anyone that has ever had a Mom or a Dad, sister, brother, or came from a "family" will find themselves somewhere in this movie.

The cast is outstanding. The "well-known" and the "unknown" together. Vanessa Parise should be, or will be, a very powerful voice in the film industry. I hope she has the same budget for her next film. Lack of funds makes creativity the only means to a great film. She is very creative. Don't give any more money. She doesn't need it. There isn't one wasted moment in the entire movie. It's great, start to finish.

Insight & Laughter

[tonyp152 · 8/10 · 24 February 2005]

I found Kiss the Bride to be an edgy, enjoyable, movie ride with some superbly timed dramatic and comedic surprises along the way.

The pace of the movie was good and the score was great - it really complemented the goings-on on screen. The characters all showed varying degrees of insight into familial relationships, making choices about life, and then reevaluating those life choices. Some questions got resolved and answered, to some degree, during the course of the movie, others remained open-ended and unresolved - a lot like life. The characters also showed some pretty human flaws like insensitivity, self absorption, ingratitude. Put all together, it made for a very good movie. Sit back and enjoy!

Not bad, for a chick flick.

[abcsf1 · 8/10 · 8 July 2012]

I watched this movie on a commercial channel. Despite the commercial interruptions, I was surprised and impressed with the writing and the Direction. Filled with talented actors (Talia Shire and Burt Young of "Rocky" fame team up again, this time as husband and wife) who deliver, this film reminded me of "The Big Chill", because it is an ensemble effort, and it works. Allisa Milano (bit part) gives a great performance as an angry love interest, and the rest of the cast takes turns delivering strong performances that resonate emotionally. I believed the stories that these actors told; they developed characters that are familiar to us all. A bit smarmy, and perhaps predictable, nevertheless this movie has high entertainment value, for those who enjoy a good chick flick. A good movie to watch with someone you care for. ~abc

Kiss the Bride is a movie with great insight into family dynamics. I loved it!

[wrightsarah7 · 9/10 · 11 June 2003]

Kiss the Bride is a special film because it is excellent on different levels. First, it's just fun to watch. The story immediately caught my interest and then managed to hold it without falter throughout the whole film. I had to know what was going to happen to each character. The side stories, interesting and honest family relationships, and personal struggles of each character gave this movie depth. By the end, I wanted to see another Vanessa Parise film about each member of the family.

On another plane, Kiss the Bride made me analyze human nature, families, and most of all the relationship between what we are as individuals and what we are as parts of a family. Each sister strives to achieve her personal goals while at the same time she works hard at eliciting a certain reaction from her family. The feelings and displays of anger, misunderstanding, frustration, fear, and ultimately love that this individual/family struggle call forth are so honest and true that many times I was deeply touched.

The gorgeous setting in the beach side town of Watch Hill, RI made this film even better. The costuming was perfectly done as well. It aided in the development of each sister's distinct personality right from the outset. The director captured the constant motion, energy, and culture of this Italian-American family with scenes of gorgeous meals, impromptu songs sung by family members, and emotionally heated discussions. All of these characteristics made the mood palpable.

I laughed a lot in this movie and shed some tears as well. The story and the characters were very real to me and I could relate my life as a thirty year old strongly to those of the sisters in Kiss the Bride. Vanessa Parise has a gift for bringing out those confusing and conflicted feelings we all have about ourselves and our loved ones.

incredible movie

[someguy2013 · 9/10 · 2 July 2009]

When I first saw this on TV, I thought it would be just another bland chick flick. I missed part of it, so I ended up renting it later. This is actually an excellent film-a moving drama about a family. Yes, there is some decent comedy too. The plot revolves around three sisters coming home for their other sister's wedding. The sisters all have different personalities and lifestyles- each one being an archetype/stereotype(I think).

The family is this film is Italian and Catholic, so that colored the film. I'm not Italian, so I didn't really relate much to that aspect. I did appreciate the Catholicism in the film since I myself am Catholic.

I admired Danni and her fiancée for remaining true to their faith by waiting for marriage to make love. That is a hard thing to do, especially in this over-sexed culture. Her three sisters don't make it any easier for her. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying she was perfect. They are all flawed but interesting characters in their own ways. I'm not sure why Danni thought she was ugly compared to her other sisters. I thought she was the most beautiful one of all(on the inside and the outside)!

There were a couple of "Catholic" things in the movie that seemed strange or just wrong to me. I've never heard of a "bed blessing" before. Is that some old Italian Catholic thing? I like most of what the mother said about sex, but she is wrong to buy into the canard that the Church forbids or frowns upon sexual pleasure(a common misconception). The Catholic Church teaches that sexual pleasure is a good thing if it is gained in the proper moral, marital context- the exact situation that Danni's mom was discussing. Maybe the Church didn't always do a good job teaching that in the past, or maybe their opponents have just been good at spreading misinformation and half truths.

I don't want to dwell on that one scene. The movie is generally quite good. Yes, this is mostly a chick flick, but it is a magnificent one. That means a lot coming from a man!

I loved this movie!

[lrs259 · 10/10 · 15 April 2003]

I loved this movie! Kiss the Bride is a funny, heart-warming and romantic film. It brilliantly encapsulates the role that family plays in a woman's personal development, and depicts the internal and external struggles that young women face when coming into their own-- and the way in which their family often makes those struggles more or less apparent. While watching the movie, I felt as if I were sitting at a family dinner party -- the fights, the tears, the jealousy, and the uncomfortable moments were balanced by the food, the music, the inside jokes, and the expression of true self and emotions that one can honestly show only to family. Kiss the Bride is an intelligently written and directed film whose actors subtly and brilliantly share both familiar and surprising moments. Everyone should see this film. Bravo!

Another Italo-American crowd pleaser

[epetrov · 10 February 2003]

In case you've been wondering what Burt Young and Talia Shire have been doing lately, Kiss the Bride will let you rest assured that they are still churning out roles in Italo-American crowd pleasers. If you aren't particularly interested in what Burt Young and Talia Shire have been doing lately, then there's absolutely no reason to watch this film. Director Vanessa Parise's Kiss the Bride, is a shamelessly derivative, utterly superfluous contribution to the current inundation of ethnic wedding films. It should be coming soon to your nearest cable station. That's where it belongs.

I loved KISS THE BRIDE! I laughed and cried in recognition!

[slickfilmgirl · 10/10 · 16 April 2003]

I loved KISS THE BRIDE! I adored that crazy Italian-American family and laughed and cried in recognition as the sisters (and their parents) struggled to figure out who they were and who they would become. No special effects, no car chases - finally, a movie about relationships.

KISS was beautifully shot and directed. Each of the young actors was marvelous culminating in the hilarious and touching meltdown of the bride at the rehearsal dinner. I also related to the sensitive and humorous treatment of the Alzheimer's issue, having gone through it in my own family.

I left the theatre humming the songs from the movie and feeling that there is hope for us all...if only my own dysfunctional family could try just a little harder!