The Wedding Party
It grows more quaintly silly with each passing year, butThe Wedding Partycan be enjoyed for more than Robert De Niro's modest screen debut. Brian De Palma's first feature is not entirely his own (friends Wilford Leach and Cynthia Munroe are credited as codirectors), and that may explain why this whimsical black-and-white comedy reveals no early hint of the Hitchcockian thrillers that De Palma became known for. If anything, it's a close cousin to De Palma's subsequent satiresGreetings(which was actually released first) andHi Mom!, which further capitalized on De Niro's fast-rising talent. Jill Clayburgh also makes her debut here, and while De Palma makes good use of idyllic locations on Shelter Island, New York, and Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, he employs all variety of low-budget techniques (fast-motion, unsynchronized sound, etc.) to cobble together a giddy chronicle of impending nuptials between an anxious pair (Clayburgh and Charles Pfluger) of Long Island lovebirds. De Niro (credited as "Robert Denero") is actually quite funny as the bridegroom's buddy, and Valda Setterfield gives a standout performance as Clayburgh's mother. It's a ridiculous mish-mash of familial mirth and mayhem, but with a budget of $43,000, De Palma showed enough directorial promise to win a theatrical release, three years after this film was made in 1966.--Jeff Shannon