Father of the Bride (1991)

New York Times
"...Martin is always the comic centerpiece....[FATHER OF THE BRIDE] represents recycling at its best..." 12/20/1991 p.C17

Washington Post 0 of 10
Father of the Bride, [is] a slight but delightfully sweet-natured comedy starring Steve Martin. The movie, which director Charles Shyer and his wife, Nancy Meyers, have updated from the 1950 Spencer Tracy-Elizabeth Taylor classic, is a panicky catalogue of the nuptial slings and arrows that every father must endure to make his daughter's dream come true. Each step along the way is a disaster, from his first meeting with the groom-to-be (George Newbern), who, at least in George's [Martin's] eyes, can't keep his hands off his little girl, to the catastrophic lunch with his future "in-laws," who discover that he's been snooping through their bankbook after first fishing George out of their swimming pool... This is far from Martin's best role, but it is one of his loosest, and it does allow him to display his talent for bug-eyed hysteria. From the moment he hears about the wedding, George is totally out of his gourd, a patriarchal loose cannon. And Martin's reactions are painfully but hilariously overblown. The movie is unapologetically sentimental, and there's a touching dollop of pathos in his performance; behind his skinflint penny-pinching over the wedding costs is a palpable sadness over the loss of his daughter. If he's freaking out, it's because his heart is breaking. It's Keaton's Nina who keeps George from flying into a million pieces; she's the steady, levelheaded half of the couple. Yet while the actress is likable in the role, the part she plays is rather colorless. And because she isn't even given a comic highlight of her own, who can't help wondering what she's doing here or why the filmmakers thought that a star of her gifts was necessary. The movie's true runaway performance is given by Martin Short, who's beginning to specialize in stealing the show with his sublimely otherworldly cameos. This is another of his blissful caricatures, and light-years beyond eccentric. As Franck, he plays a fey autocrat of unfathomable origin. Just possibly he's from Denmark, but if so, he's Danish by way of Pluto. Franck is a style fascist; every wedding is a work of art with the distinctive signature of its behind-the-scenes genius, and to get into the role, Short twists his voice and his body into unimaginable contortions. His work here is inhumanly funny. The movie, as a whole, isn't nearly so original. Though it's not a literal updating of the earlier MGM film, it's close enough to the original to hold very few surprises. Still, it's a pleasing, well-crafted, surprisingly satisfying diversion. It's eager to entertain and has a quality that's genuinely rare these days: a spirit of gentle modesty. - Hal Hinson
 
Chicago Sun Times 0 of 10
The most surprising discovery audiences are making about Steve Martin at this stage of his career is that he is a warm actor - warm, and yet not ingratiating. My image of Martin, formed from his stage persona and his early movies, was of a chilly wise-guy of undeniable intelligence but little empathy. And yet look at his best recent screen roles, in the movies Parenthood, L.A. Storyand now Father of the Bride. He's one of the most empathetic men on the screen. In Father of the Bride, his character is inspired by a 1950 Spencer Tracy role, and it's fair to say he is as likable as Tracy. Perhaps more to the point, he plays a role much like the one played by Alan Alda in Betsy's Wedding, and although Alda has made a career out of playing nice guys and usually does it convincingly, I liked Martin better. The screenplay is predictable, and if you've seen the trailer you have, in some sense, seen the movie. The screenplay is based on confirmations, not surprises; everything we think will happen, does. In that sense it is like a successful wedding... The best moments in the movie are not, however, the passages of obvious comedy (I didn't much go for the extended set-piece that involved Martin visiting his in-laws' bathroom and ending up in the swimming pool). This is a movie with heart, and there are little moments in it when Martin is deeply moved by the fact that this perfect creature he brought into the world is now going to start a family of her own. There is, for example, a touching moment when he touches his heart, as if it will burst. Another moment when Keaton gently corrects his original vision of the wedding ceremony (lots of balloons in the back yard, and Martin standing at the barbecue grill wearing a chef's hat). And the poignancy of a moment when Martin realizes his daughter now listens to her fiance, not her old dad, for helpful suggestions. Father of the Bride is not as ambitious or as insightful as Parenthood, the film it should probably be linked with in Martin's career. Its truths are more sweet and gentle. But it's one of the movies with a lot of smiles and laughter in it, and a good feeling all the way through. The movie was directed by Charles Shyer and produced by Nancy Meyers, and their previous credits include two films in the same vein, Irreconcilable Differences and Baby Boom (which starred Keaton as a career woman who suddenly finds herself a mother). There are no great revelations of stunning insights in their films. Just everyday life, warmly observed. - Roger Ebert
 
Chicago Sun-Times 9 of 10
...[Martin] is one of the most empathetic men on the screen... This is a movie with heart, and there are little moments in it when Martin is deeply moved... it's one of the movies with a lot of smiles and laughter in it, and a good feeling all the way through... - Roger Ebert