‘Table 19’ a harmless comedy
Almost 20 years ago, in 1998, Adam Sandler introduced us to the lovable group of misfits of “Table 9” in his timeless comedy “The Wedding Singer.”
This week we are introduced to a similar premise, in the independent comedy from Fox Searchlight by the name of “Table 19.” There is no shortage of star power, in that it stars the very adorable Anna Kendrick, the funny Craig Robinson and “Friends” alumni Lisa Kudrow. This film is 87 minutes in length and is rated PG with a coarse language warning. It will play, starting Friday, daily at 4:30, 7:25 and 9:35 p.m.
From Fox Searchlight, we read: “Ex-maid of honour Eloise — having been relieved of her duties after being unceremoniously dumped by the best man via text — decides to hold her head up high and attend her oldest friend’s wedding anyway. She finds herself seated at the “random” table in the back of the ballroom with a disparate group of strangers, most of whom should have known to just send regrets. As everyone's secrets are revealed, Eloise learns a thing or two from the denizens of Table 19. Friendships — and even a little romance _ can happen under the most unlikely circumstances.”
The premise sounds like the classic John Hughes “The Breakfast Club.” Instead of a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess and a criminal, the guests at Table 19 include a bickering couple, a nanny, a dumped princess, a nerd and, yes, a criminal.
As with “The Breakfast Club,” these are strangers sentenced to an afternoon together, at the most remote of tables — punished for being different and forgotten and misunderstood. For me, one redeeming note was the music played by the wedding band — a bunch of ’80s covers including hits such as “Dance Hall Days,““All Through the Night,” “Heart and Soul” and “I Melt with You”!
This film was a bit clunky, occasionally sweet and utterly harmless. The entire film takes place nearly entirely during a wedding reception, save for a funny prologue introducing us to some of the characters reacting to the wedding invite, and a neatly packaged epilogue where we find out what happened to those same characters approximately a year after the wedding.
See you at the movies.