The Wedding Video (2012)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2012
Running Time	90:28
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Nigel Cole
Studio Distributor	Entertainment One	Starring	Tim Firth Lucy Punch Miriam Margolyes Matt Berry Harriet Walter Michelle Gomez Robert Webb
Case	?
RPI	?	Music	None Given

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English Dolby Digital 5.1 English Dolby Digital 2.0
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.85:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	576i (PAL)
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	None	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Films with a wedding theme are pretty common in the comedy genre and this is understandable given the amount of comedy material which can be inspired by the particular brand of crazy which only a wedding can bring out in people. This independent English film The Wedding Video, was written by Tim Firth (writer of Calendar Girls, Confessions of a Shopaholic, Kinky Boots) and directed by Nigel Cole (Calendar Girls, Saving Grace, Made in Dagenham). It tries to take a different approach to the wedding romantic comedy by adding the currently popular technique of using 'found footage'. At times it is hilarious but does not completely succeed.

     Raif Moyle (Rufus Hound) has been travelling the world since his parents died and is now returning to England for the first time in three years to be the best man at his brother Tim's wedding. Tim (Robert Webb) is much more straight-laced than Raif and has a job in IT management. Raif has decided that his wedding present to Tim will be a video of the lead up to the big day, given the happy couple warts and all coverage to enjoy for years to come. Well, that is his idea anyway. Tim is marrying Saskia (Lucy Punch) who is the stepdaughter of a very successful businessman in the transport industry, Des, who married Saskia's mother Alex (Harriett Walter). They live in Cheshire (which seems to be the UK equivalent of Sylvania Waters) in a very ostentatious house. It quickly becomes evident that Raif and Saskia knew each other well at school and that Saskia has not always been the good girl she currently portrays. As the big day approaches tensions rise, Alex tries to turn it into the Cheshire wedding of the season and preparations just get crazier and crazier led by the wedding planner (Michelle Gomez). Miriam Margolyes also appears as Saskia's grandmother.

     As I mentioned above there are some really funny sequences in this film involving unicorns, butterflies, falcons, Titanic, ice sculptures, streaking and more. It only runs for 90 minutes but still feels a little long as there are too many passages of average writing for the whole to really come together as a comedy classic. It is in the same vein as something like Death at a Funeral in terms of the slapstick, sight gags and general silliness without having the consistency across the run time to challenge that film. If you are after a light amusing film to while away 90 minutes and get a few good laughs you could certainly do worse than this. Certainly a saving grace of this film is that it does not stoop to gutter comedy about sex or bodily functions.

     Fun but forgettable.

Video

     The video quality is quite good but restricted by the choice to make it look low tech on purpose.

     The feature is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio which is the original aspect ratio. It is 16x9 enhanced.

     The picture was quite clear and sharp throughout for DVD. Shadow detail was good.

     The colour was quite good but somewhat dull compared to bigger productions.

     Artefacts included some aliasing and motion blur.

     There are no subtitles.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio quality is good.

     This disc contains an English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1 plus another English soundtrack in Dolby Digital 2.0. The difference is pretty small as this audio track is front and centre focused regardless.

     Dialogue was reasonably clear and easy to hear and understand although subtitles would certainly have been useful.

     The music includes a theme tune and various songs. They do their job without standing out.

     The surround speakers are used for mild atmosphere and surround effects.

     The subwoofer supports the music a little.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The menu included music and scenes from the film.

    This film is available on DVD and Blu-ray in the UK, however the DVD edition seems to be just as bare bones as ours is. Buy local unless you need a Blu-ray, but I can't see why you would.

    The video quality is quite good.

    The audio quality is good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall