How usually do exes get again collectively at vacation spot weddings? Based mostly on Hollywood rom-coms, one may assume it’s an epidemic. The previous few years alone have seen rancorous pairs reconcile on the tropical seashores of Bali (“Ticket to Paradise”), the tropical shoreline of Sydney, Australia (“Anybody However You”) and within the tropical jungles of the Philippines (“Shotgun Marriage ceremony”). What a shock to see the pattern reappear in Netflix’s “Mom of the Bride,” set in Phuket, Thailand, at a tropical resort.
These films, as critics have identified, are themselves rehashing an older Hollywood trope: the comedy of remarriage, during which a separated couple reunites to search out their acrimony reworked into revitalized affection. (A traditional instance is Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn within the 1940 rom-com “The Philadelphia Story.”)
In “Mom of the Bride,” that twosome consists of Lana (a dedicated Brooke Shields) and Will (Benjamin Bratt), ex-beaus who severed ties after faculty. In Phuket, they uncover that their grown kids — Lana’s daughter, Emma (Miranda Cosgrove), and Will’s son, RJ (Sean Teale) — are betrothed.
“Mom of the Bride” is directed by Mark Waters (“Imply Women”) with an obvious allergy to verisimilitude. Early on, we’re instructed that the opulent Thai ceremony will likely be bankrolled by Emma’s firm (she’s an intern) and livestreamed to “thousands and thousands of eyes.” These fantasies of pomp and circumstance usually serve to make Lana and Will’s budding romance really feel like a B-story to the motion — though which may be a blessing when the very best screwball gag this film can muster is a pickleball shot to the groin.
Mom of the Bride
Not rated. Operating time: 1 hour 28 minutes. Watch on Netflix.
