I remember seeing this one in the theater when it first came out in February 1998 - I was in 8th grade at the time and LOVED it! I've always had a soft-spot for 80s nostalgia as I was just a kid during the 80s and in the years prior I had been introduced to Adam Sandler in his comedies Airheads, Billy Madison and Happy Gilmore. In The Wedding Singer, we are taken back to 1985 where Sandler plays Robbie Hart, a former small-town rockstar who has settled into a career as the town's main Wedding Singer and he loves his job, having a lot of fun with it. He also gives singing lessons to an elderly lady in his free time, which he also enjoys. On the day of his wedding though, his fiancee stands him up, coming by his house later explaining that she got cold feet when she realized she was marrying a wedding singer - he was no longer the aspiring rock star she fell in love with. Confused and heartbreak, Robbie falls into a depression. He no longer wants to do weddings as it reminds him too much his wedding that didn't happen. He did however promise new girl Julia (played by Drew Barrymore), who works as a waitress on the catering staff that Robbie and his band are often paired with at wedding receptions, that he would sing at her wedding. Feeling bad about having to break his promise to her, he does agree to help her with her wedding planning, as her fiance is not into that sort of thing and she's scared about getting overcharged and taken advantage of since she's newer in town and she also knows Robbie knows all the locals involved in the wedding business and can tell her where to get the best deals. Throughout the next few weeks, the 2 form a close friendship, even coming to realize that they're both falling for each other. But when Robbie's ex-fiancee shows up and takes advantage of him in a drunken state, Julia misinterprets the situation and runs off with her fiance for a quick wedding in Vegas. Will Robbie be able to stop her in time before she makes a huge mistake?
This film, being set in the 80s, has 80s references GALORE! From the fashion, to the cars, to the toys, and music... even Billy Idol shows up in one scene (looking like he hasn't aged a day, despite the movie being filmed in the mid-late 90s!). Despite a few inaccuracies (mainly some of the songs used in the film didn't come out until after 1985), this has been deemed one of the best 80s nostalgic films made.
Even though it's one of Adam Sandler's earlier films, he's not nearly as goofy or wacky as he is in some of the others he did in the 90s. Also starring, is Christine Taylor (aka Melody from Hey Dude, aka Mrs. Ben Stiller) as Julia's cousin Holly who is more experienced waitress in the catering business and a bit of a Madonna-wannabe, as well as Allen Covert who plays Sammy - the town limo driver and Robbie's best friend, who keeps his eye on the hot waitresses hoping to get with them, despite his Michael Jackson attire.
Be sure to check out this gem of a movie if you like cute romantic comedies or love 80s nostalgia!
Other favorite movies:
The Fifth Element, Fight Club, 300, Office Space, Zoolander, Snakes on a Plane, EuroTrip, Napoleon Dynamite, Empire Records, Tank Girl, Doomsday, Repo! The Genetic Opera, Stardust, Anastasia, The Lion King
Love love love The Wedding Singer.
ReplyDeleteAlso you get bonus points for this blog for mentioning Office Space, Tank Girl and Repo! The Genetic Opera.
This is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time! I actually went and saw the stage production of The Wedding Singer last month, and it was fabulous!
ReplyDeleteGreat post! :)
@Emily - Office Space is a classic... or at least it should be. For my English Lit final in college we had to pick a book or movie that wasn't a classic but we felt we should be and write why, I just *had* to do Office Space. I got a B+ on it and my professor wrote on it that he agreed it, it should be a classic, hehe =)
ReplyDeleteI first saw Tank Girl on ComedyCentral back in high school and LOVED it - it's such a great, funny action flick and Lori Petty kicks butt in it, as does Naomi Watts near the end and Malcolm McDowell... he's pretty awesome in every post-apocalyptic thing he's been in!
And Repo's just full of win - I LOVED it! They do the shadowboxing or whatever it's called of it every so often in Chicago - I am determined to go one of these days - I went to one of those for Rocky Horror when I was in college and it was soooo much fun - I'm sure Repo would be just as awesome!
@Jess - lucky! They did a 1-night only show in my town last Spring when they were touring it cross country - I really wanted to go but it was it was at least $30 a ticket and we just didn't have the money at the time =/