Thursday, September 20, 2018

Destination Wedding (2018)

What happens when two nihilistic and bitter intellectuals are stuck together for a weekend in a strange new place, and forced to celebrate a happy couple's nuptials? Destination Wedding paints that picture for you in a hilariously smart fashion!

Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder had starred in three other movies before this one. So, it goes without saying that they have great chemistry. Reeves plays an advertising executive, while Ryder is a lawyer specializing in civil and social injustice issues. Both are incredibly smart, and at the same time, cynical of the world. These two end up sitting next to one another on their flight to the destination (for a wedding, as the title suggests), have adjacent hotel rooms, and are put on the same table at the wedding. They repel one another cause they are basically the same! Cherry on top is the fact that Winona Ryder's character was engaged to the groom a few years back. And, the groom is Keanu Reeves' estranged half brother.

A bit shorter than 90 minutes, the whole movie focuses on these two characters, their conversations and witty banter. You see other actors in the background, but they don't have speaking roles. Victor Levin, the movies' director and screen writer, needs to be commended for his brilliant dialogue, beautiful long shots, and making a film that may not work on the paper - particularly in the era of superheroes and audiences with possibly the shortest attention spans in history.

I loved the dialogue, acting, and the whole movie as a device for the screenwriter to express his world view! I give the movie a 10/10 for this bold effort.