ALAN ALDA

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB.5

USA, 1990.  Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners IV, Martin Bregman Productions, Betsy’s Wedding.  Screenplay by Alan Alda.  Cinematography by Kelvin Pike.  Produced by Martin Bregman, Louis A. Stroller.  Music by Bruce Broughton.  Production Design by John Jay Moore.  Costume Design by Mary Malin.  Film Editing by Michael E. Polakow.  

In this unofficial remake of Father of the Bride, Molly Ringwald announces to her parents (Alan Alda, who also directs, and Madeline Kahn) that she is happily in love with Dylan Walsh and wants to get married. Trying to not to go in for her dad’s desire for a huge, splashy wedding, Ringwald wants something small and intimate and is even considering eloping.

Once the big wedding has been decided on, however, craziness follows: weather problems, mob connections and financial struggles all threaten to destroy what should be a perfect day for the happy couple. Ally Sheedy is hilarious as Ringwald’s police officer sister, who attracts mob thug Anthony LaPaglia and his woman-in-uniform fetish.

This film should have had its audience wrapped up in a handbag, especially considering it isn’t any less or more inspired than other similar films like the Shyer-Meyer remake of Father Of The Bride, but the box office just didn’t ring any wedding bell joy.