Well-made, engaging romantic comedy.

Rating: 8/10 (29 February 2008)

Adam Sandler had made generally second-rate comedy fillers prior to The Wedding Singer. Films like Billy Madison, Bulletproof and Happy Gilmore  very straightforward, run-of-the-mill comedy films. The Wedding Singer has a lot more to it than that, and is a surprisingly enjoyable and witty romantic comedy. The trick is very simple  it's a film about people. No fancy plot devices, no special effects, no action thrown in to spice things up  just real and funny characters caught up in a situation that anyone can identify with.
In the 1980s, wedding singer Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) makes friends with a pleasant waitress named Julia (Drew Barrymore) at a wedding party. The pair of them get on incredibly well but neither notices the chemistry between them as both are already engaged to their respective lovers. In Robbie's case, the attractive but incompatible Linda (Angela Featherstone); in Julia's case the successful and materialistic Glenn (Matthew Glave). When Robbie is jilted at the altar by Linda, he sinks into depression but is helped through the tough times by Julia. During this time he realises that he actually has feelings for her, a fact that Julia herself also awakens to. Julia begins to have serious doubts about whether she truly wants to spend the rest of her life with Glenn but her family and friends convince her that she is merely suffering from a few pre-wedding jitters. However, when Robbie finds out that Glenn is a love rat who sleeps around with other women he realises that the time is right to declare his love to Julia. But circumstances conspire to jeopardise his plan, and Robbie has to chase Julia to Las Vegas before she unwittingly marries the wrong guy
What makes the film better than a standard romantic comedy is the clever '80s background, with clothing, fashion, hair-styles, music tastes and phrases all perfectly captured from the era. In one great scene, Robbie instructs Linda to stop wearing his Van Halen T-shirt: "please get out of my Van Halen T-shirt before you jinx the band and they break up!" Little subtle gags like this run throughout the film and make it a pleasure to come back for repeat viewings. The dialogue is generally very good, with lots of quick witted sarcasm and one-liners. But the film remembers also to set aside time for the emotional and romantic elements, so that it doesn't just become a soulless gag-fest. Sandler proves for perhaps the first time in his career that he is a likable and subtle actor, capable of creating a character with personality rather than sticking to type. Similarly, Barrymore gives her sweetest performance in years  the chemistry between them is unexpectedly warm and genuine. Indeed, the entire cast create memorable and amusing characters, right down to a hilarious cameo from Billy Idol. There's really not much wrong with The Wedding Singer  it's a little conventional and the outcome is wholly predictable, but these are minor quibbles in an otherwise well-made, engaging and genuinely funny comedy flick.