"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Monday, July 30, 2018

Countdown to Thirteen: White Wedding (2009, PG-13)


This South African rom-com is pretty fun.  I’ve seen/read enough of Trevor Noah’s stuff to recognize some of the particular South African cultural aspects of it, but really, it’s wedding mishaps meets disastrous road trip, all in an engaging package.

It’s the week of Elvis and Ayanda’s wedding, and Elvis is on the other side of the country.  He and his best friend/best man Tumi think they have plenty of time to make the 1000-mile cross-country drive, but as you can imagine, one thing leads to another and they keep meeting various roadblocks, both literal and metaphorical; things get even more complicated when they pick up a jilted would-be bride on the road.  Meanwhile, Elvis’s fiancée Ayanda is left to handle all the preparations in Cape Town on her own, dealing with a demanding wedding planner and a mother who refuses to accept that her daughter wants a “white wedding” (i.e. a fancy ceremony in the city) instead of an everyone’s-invited blowout in the township.

It’s pretty much everything you’d expect from a wedding comedy:  arguments over the guest list, the wedding dress in peril, an ex conveniently hanging around, last-minute crises, and just enough misunderstanding to make the future bride and groom doubt one another’s commitment.  That said, it also involves a live goat as a wedding present, so it still keeps you on your toes.

Similarly, the characters are familiar archetypes but are still entertaining.  Ayanda is very put-together, holding up masterfully under the ludicrous stress she’s forced to endure, and there are definitely times you wonder why she’s with Elvis, who seems like a decent enough guy but not an obvious choice for her.  (At the same time, though, I appreciate that Tony, the ex of hers that’s sniffing around, is neither a blatant bad guy or presented as the clear “right” guy for her.)  Elvis’s friend Tumi is enjoyable, the typical funny best friend with bad judgment who keeps getting the more straitlaced protagonist in trouble.

Jodie Whittaker plays Rose, a young woman who came to visit a friend in South Africa after her engagement fell apart.  A surprise subsequent falling-out with that friend leaves her with her own cross-country trip to Cape Town, where she needs to be in a few days in order to make her flight back home.  Along the way, she crosses paths with Elvis and Tumi, and after first sneaking into their car at a gas station, she cajoles them into giving her a lift.

Before I go any further, I don’t care how depressed, desperate, and/or naïve Rose is – who on earth tries to hide in a stranger’s car?  It’s just blindingly dumb, and the only reason I don’t hold it too much against Rose as a character is because it simply does not seem like a thing any rational human being would do, so that makes it a writing problem.  For the life of me, I don’t know why they didn’t have her corner the guys at the gas station and beg them to take her with them. 

Other than that, however, I mostly like Rose.  Her present circumstances have made her rather self-absorbed regarding her problems, and she’s certainly painted as an inexperienced tourist who doesn’t really know what’s what, but it’s largely done in a humorous manner and seems to fit her character for the most part.  I especially enjoy her bonding with the aforementioned wedding-present goat Elvis and Tumi acquire halfway through the road trip.

Accent Watch

Northern.

Recommend?

In General – I think so, for anyone who likes romantic comedies.  This is a fairly fun one.

Jodie Whittaker – Again, I think so.  Rose isn’t the most complicated character out there, but she’s entertaining to watch, and it’s a good-sized role.

Warnings

Sexual content, language (including South African racial slurs,) drinking/smoking, some violence, and thematic elements.

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