"Our marriage, their wedding." It's lesson number one for any newly engaged couple, and Lucia and Marcus are no exception. In Our Family Wedding, they learn the hard way that the path to saying "I do" can be rife with familial strife. When they return from college and too suddenly announce their marriage plans, they soon discover that their fathers - two highly competitive over-the-top egos - can wreak a major amount of havoc on their special day. With insults flying and tempers running high, it's anyone's guess if the alpha dads will survive to make it down the aisle in one piece. Lucia's mother is busy planning the wedding of "her" dreams and the only levelheaded one in the bunch is Angela, the groom's father's best friend and lawyer, who manages to keep her cool when the madness reaches a crescendo. With only weeks to plan their wedding, Lucia and Marcus soon discover the true meaning of love and find there is truth to the saying - that when you marry someone... Do not pay attention to the ridiculously low rating this film has accumulated. It's hardly one of the best movies you'll ever see, but it is overall much more enjoyable than not. The young leads are a charming, believable couple, and you do root for them. I thought the more obvious (meaning unfunny) racial jokes were actually kept to a respectable minimum, considering that culture clash is the main premise of the movie. Some scenes work better than others. One involving the families figuring out the "seating schematic" is quite clever and funny. One involving a bathroom is a rather shameless and unfunny ripoff of a scene from "Father of the Bride." Carlos Mencia, I have to say, I don't think is funny or a particularly good actor. I kept finding myself imagining someone else in the part (*cough* George Lopez... or anyone else, really). But he wasn't enough to ruin the movie for me. The best parts of the movie were the story with Forest Whitaker and Regina King, and anything with Charlie Murphy, who has a small but hilarious role. The one scene featuring him and Taye Diggs was the one time I laughed HARD. And yes, as another reviewer pointed out, the actress playing the sister was excellent. Most of the plot points are predictable, yes, but I didn't really hold that against "Our Family Wedding." I at least had a better time than I've had at most real weddings. I give it a 6 out of 10.

Starring:

Alejandro Patino, America Ferrera, Anna Maria Horsford, Carlos Mencia, Caroline Aaron, Castulo Guerra, Charles Q Murphy, Diana Maria Riva, Ella Joyce, Forest Whitaker, Gordon James, Hayley Marie Norman, James Lesure, Joseph Vassallo, Lupe Ontiveros, Michael Clark, Mimi Michaels, Noel Gugliemi, Regina King, Shannyn Sossamon, Shondrella Avery, Sy Richards

Genre:

Comedy, Romance