‘Mother of the Bride’: Brooke Shields gets flirty with Chad Michael Murray and Benjamin Bratt in Netflix movie
Shields is joined by Miranda Cosgrove, Benjamin Bratt, Rachael Harris and Chad Michael Murray for a new rom-com
From Mean Girls director Mark Waters, Brooke Shields stars in a new Netflix rom-com Mother of the Bride, costarring Miranda Cosgrove, Benjamin Bratt, Rachael Harris, Chad Michael Murray, Wilson Cruz and Michael McDonald. Although the movie has a particularly talented cast and director, that doesn't mean this love story will impress.
Filmed and set in Thailand, Mother of the Bride looks at the rom-com tradition of a destination wedding gone wrong and rekindled romance. It's a formula you'll know from the start.
What is 'Mother of the Bride' about?
Shields plays Dr. Lana Winslow, a widowed scientist in San Francisco who finds out early in the film that her daughter Emma (Cosgrove), currently in London for an internship with a company called Discovery Resorts, is engaged.
It's an unexpected piece of information for Lana, having not met her daughter's fiancé RJ (Sean Teale) yet, but the real shock comes when Emma tells her mom that the wedding is in one month, in Phuket, Thailand.
Emma just got a six-figure sponsorship deal with Discovery Resorts, after RJ helped her rework her lifestyle Instagram account, which means she's starting her career as a full-time influencer, with Discovery paying for her wedding at one of their resorts.
Fast forward to the arrival in Thailand. Lana and her friend Janice (who Emma calls aunt Janice) run into their friends from college Scott (Cruz) and Clay (McDonald), who are now married. But that's also when she realizes that her daughter's soon-to-be father-in-law is Lana's ex-boyfriend Will (Bratt), who basically ghosted her 30 years ago.
As you can expect, Lana and Will are both single, so the sexual tension is palpable right when we see the pair together. But Lana also catches the eye of Lucas, who Janice calls a "Hemsworth hottie," a younger doctor who works at UCLA.
What will the future of Lana love life look like? Will Lana and Emma be able to stick it out through this wedding/sponsorship? Those are the questions of the film.
'Mother of the Bride' lacks fun
A rom-com having a predictable plot isn't always a bad thing, there can certainly be comfort in the familiar, but with Mother of the Bride it's less comfort and more uncomfortable.
The core moments just feel fleeting and the comedy feels too forced. We're over the gag when someone accidentally walks in on their ex-partner when they're naked. We wanted something a bit more original there.
It's just not a movie that's constructed in a way that makes you feel particularly invested in its characters, and it's missing the laughs to at least create some sort of enjoyable distraction.
That being said, it may feel like a bitter pill to swallow because the movie does have McDonald and Harris, who were both part of The Groundlings, the famed improv and sketch comedy theatre that launched the career of so many of our favourite comedians and comedic actors. McDonald is also a MADtv icon and Harris has made us laugh on shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and Cougar Town.
In terms of the relationship between Emma and Lana, seemingly many of the gags are supposed to be coming from the over-the-top, luxury sponsorship aspect of this wedding. Lana can't write her own speech and has to wear this bizarre dress, with the mother-daughter duo butting heads about the authenticity of this wedding. Maybe it's because this is so much of the influencer-event reality that it doesn't feel that funny.
Shields has applauded Mother of the Bride for showing a woman who has a university-aged daughter being the object of affection of two men.
"It was so affirming because we don't do that," Shields said on The View. "Not just a second chance at love as if you're on your last leg and you've got one foot in the grave. ... To be able to be sexy and beautiful, it's life."
While that's absolutely an accurate point, the next necessary step here is not just to have films where a 58-year-old woman can lead a rom-com, but to give her the material that allows an actor like Shields to shine. A fully developed character that makes us laugh, not something that feels a bit clunky and too formulaic, like Mother of the Bride. We want Shields to have a fun rom-com too.
