Stereotypes on parade are front and center as an African-American boy, a would-be doctor from New York, plans to wed a Mexican-American girl from Los Angeles. His father is a popular disc jockey; hers is a successful auto mechanic and rehabber of classic cars.
And the movie, "Our Family Wedding," which opens today, is produced by Edward Saxon, born and reared in St. Louis.
Miguel Ramirez (veteran Mexican actor and writer Carlos Mencia) also has a sideline job. He tows cars for the L.A. police, and towing the Jaguar of Brad Boyd (Forest Whitaker, who turns the character into a caricature) allows the two men to meet and tangle in a funny scene not long before their children arrive and they meet again.
With the exception of three boring scenes of wedding-cake nonsense, the film moves rather rapidly. Lance Gross and America Ferrera are satisfactory as Marcus and Lucia, respectively, and Lupe Ontiveros, as her grandmother, provides a fine example of racism. Wayne Conley and Malcolm Spellman wrote the screenplay and adding to the cross-culturalism of the entire project, Rick Famuyiwa directed with good comic pacing.
Opens today on multiple screens.
–Joe
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I don’t see a place to send in suggestions, so I’ll try here. I really think you guys should try Sawmill BBQ. Several of us think they are better than Pappy’s. They are just across the river in Cahokia. You will not be disappointed. I highly recommend the brisket and ribs and you have to get the baked beans.