The year is off to a romantic start or maybe a social commentary start, anyway we’ll talk about that in a while.
In this week’s Double Feature Review we’ll look into two romantic comedies that premiered on two different streaming services last weekend. I loved one and the other one just felt a little too preachy. And since it’s the month of love, it’s perfect. Let’s get it on.
Shotgun Wedding
This romantic action comedy stars Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel as a couple on the verge of their but cold feet sends them on an adventure. Their wedding party is taken hostage and they find a way to save everyone. And so the adventure starts.
Is it the perfect romantic comedy? Not in a long shot, but it’s actually funny. The chemistry between the actors is great. The story is predictable but it’s still fun to see everything unfold. The action sequences are also interesting since some are unexpected.
The movie is nowhere near brilliant, but the love story is something beautiful and at the end of the day I’m a sucker for a good romance. The only thing that really bothers me is that these people will have serious PTSD. There are a bunch of plotholes, but at least the humour is good.
My Rating: 5.5 out of 10 – Could’ve Been Better
You People
This “romantic comedy” is as much comedy as it is a social commentary on black American culture. The movie starts out great and really romantic and all of a sudden it gets all preachy. Now I’m all for social commentary on serious issues, but there’s a time and place for everything.
Kenya Barris who co-wrote and directed the movie did a great job with mixing social commentary and comedy with Black-ish, but this movie is just too much. I was hoping to just be entertained; I didn’t want to forced to watch a 2-hour sermon about first world issues.
Back to the movie, it does have some great comedy moments. Eddie Murphy is funny as always, but the black messiah façade was a little too much. I was expecting more, but I guess that’s what you get from modern movies and TV shows. It’s not about good stories and entertainment; it’s all about indoctrinating the masses.
My Rating: 2.5 out 10 – It Sucks!
So what’s the better of the two? Just skip You People and check out Shotgun Wedding for a traditional romcom.
