Several (Bad) Weddings (2014)

Original Title

Qu'est-ce qu'on a fait au Bon Dieu?

Genre

Comedy

Director

Philippe de Chauveron

Country

France

Cast

Christian Clavier, Chantal Lauby, Medi Sadoun, Ary Abittan, Frédréric Chau, Noom Diawara, Pascal N'Zonzi, Salimata Kamate, Tatiana Rojo, Frédèrique Bel, Julia Piaton, Émilie Caen, Élodie Fontan, Elie Semoun, Loic Legendre

Storyline

Claude (Christian Clavier) and Marie (Chantal Lauby) are a Catholic French couple who sees their life upside down when three out of four of their daughters get married to men of different religions and origins. But things are about to get better when their fourth daughter (Élodie Fontan) tells them she is going to marry a Catholic (Noom Diawara).

Opinion

I remember seeing the trailer at the movie theatre for this film, and I remember wanting to watch it but then I missed it and I soon forgot about it. Luckily someone on Twitter suggested me it not long ago, so I found a copy of it and watched it. And I really had a good time.

The story is very thin and clichéed - and I believe it has similarities with Stanley Kramer's Guess Who's Coming to Dinner so it isn't even original - but most of all it does have a happy ending. Now, that's something that would usually bother me a lot. I hate the whole "and they lived happily ever after" thing because it doesn't happen in real life. However, the filmmakers did such a good job here, that not only the story engaged me, but I found myself invested in it, and the happy ending is exactly what this film made me wish for.

What I did like the most, however, is the serious topics Several (Bad) Weddings addresses and the way it does it. It deals with racism, racial integration and religion, but it makes fun of it. Not in an offensive way, though. The humour indeed relies (a lot) on racial stereotypes and it's lighthearted, but like I said above, it's never offensive. I also liked the fact that the film shows how each different "race" feels about the others.

Really bringing the film alive is the cast. While none of the actors gives an Award-worthy performance, they are a real delight.