Walk down aisle with weddings imagined, revised
Weddings haven’t always gotten to me — they seemed a better fit for women slayed by the sight of a wedding dress, posies dropped in the center aisle by flower girls or boys and the swell of music announcing that a bride is near — but this year might have brought out the softer side in men made of steel.
“This year” and the recent release of “Father of the Bride Part 3 (ish)” from Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer, co-writers of the 1991 film “Father of the Bride” and its sequel.
Hard to believe the original came out almost 30 years ago but the movie never seems to go out of style and funny is funny. Steve Martin plays a father struggling to let go of his daughter, and faced with the cost and theatrics of planning a wedding, is trying to temper his angst and bewilderment. Men can relate.
The new film is 45 minutes long, was shot entirely on Zoom, features Steven Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short and the rest of the cast and is a fundraiser for World Central Kitchen.
No need to talk about the plot but suffice to say that “Part 3 (ish),” available on Netflix, hits the spot even without being a big glitzy Hollywood production.
Now, more than previous nows, we’re looking for touchstones, comfort food, the familiar and universals, and what could be more universal than a wedding, nearly the richest source of humor, hysteria and pathos available.
We were looking for a laugh and found several. Maybe some tears too, but tears don’t feel too bad these days either. The Zoom stuff is funny and who cares if Diane Keaton is older (unlike the rest of us) and Steve Martin doesn’t seem to have aged; the characters are likable and have the right amount of comedic gravitas.
What a year for weddings or for weddings that have been canceled, rescheduled, retooled and reimagined. Everybody knows somebody. Weddings planned in Napa Valley wineries, Santa Barbara getaways and Hawaii moved home to backyards. Guest lists of 250 people have been cut to 25.
Making fun of somebody’s disappointment is hardly sport, kind or fair, so I won’t, however, there is something refreshing about leaner weddings in place of the high stakes, overthe-top and incredibly elaborate affairs that weddings have become. The sort that makes people long for the courthouse, the midnight elopement and Las Vegas-here-we-come.
Anything wrong with simple? Back to basics? Back to family? Back to a manageable scale? This could be another silver lining to COVID and we’ll take all the silver linings we can get.
Closer to home, but closer to home in Ipswich, Mass., we will be attending a wedding next October. Our youngest, Thomas. will be marrying his fiancee, Alicia. Like many people, we hit the wedding lottery in terms of future daughters-in-law, which makes three of three.
Like most weddings, this one will probably have its share of unplanned drama, joy and fun. No matter how tightly weddings are scripted, they are prone to veer in unexpected and exciting directions.
The father of the bride will not be there, other than in spirit. Should he have been able to, he would be proud of his little girl, his big girl, his extremely organized girl.
The world will be rich with weddings in 2021. Even for the hard of heart, it is something to look forward to.