Mother of the Bride review: A poignant message lost in an underwhelming narrative

The story helmed by Brooke Shields had so much potential in terms of showing the many layers of motherhood but falls completely flat and we discuss all of this in our Mother of the Bride review!

Mother of the Bride review: A daughter’s wedding day is arguably the most emotional day in a mother’s life. Except that in the Mother of the Bride, Lana (Brooke Shields) had no clue that her daughter even had a steady beau. After graduating from college in London and an extravagant proposal from her fiance RJ (Sean Teale), Emma (Miranda Cosgrove) starts fretting about how to break this news to her mom who is busy saving the world. Lana is locking down grants and researching genetic diseases in San Francisco. She is completely taken aback when Emma tells her that she is engaged and the fact that now she is a social media influencer. Lana is confused about what to make of this but solely because of her love for her daughter she agrees to it all and hops on a plane to Phuket which is where the wedding is. If this wasn’t enough information to process already, she meets Will (Benjamin Bratt) , her long lost love of her life who randomly ghosted her in college but turns out to be the father of the groom years later. Fate has brought them together in a rather unconventional way and the two wonder if they should take this as a sign and give it a second chance.

Directed by Mark Waters who has also directed the iconic ‘Mean Girls’, his latest work fails to add the same emotion and engagement in the story. It is based on the wholesome intention of never giving up on your happily ever after but does not offer anything new as a rom-com. And in fact with rom-coms decreasing in number, we’d all love a good casual watch but with an over-explained plot and underwhelming performances it lacks that ‘feel-good’ factor that rom-coms usually do. The only take away from the film is that Lana was the mother of the bride and kept her daughter first as the maid of honor but also rekindled her own romance. There’s no age limit for love and finding your safe space while fulfilling your duties as a mom can in fact go hand in hand. In fact, her daughter being supportive and happy for her mom falling in love again is refreshing. The movie also reinstates how timing is everything and that we need to forgive our past selves in order to have a fulfilling present.

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There’s also a second love interest for Lana in the film, Lucas (Chad Michael Murray) who is much younger than her and is an absolute eye candy in the film. But a predictable arc and calculated scenarios lead him to not have a flourished character at all. Then there are also other supporting characters like Clay (Michael Mcdonald) and Will (Benjamin Bratt), a gay couple who was added in the film just for that very reason; there’s absolutely nothing shown about their characters or their relationship. You feel connected to the narrative only because of its cinematography. The beautiful sunset shots and the aerial drone frames of the immaculate property the film was shot at are aesthetically pleasing.

After Netflix’s recent hit ‘Ticket to Paradise’ which also walks along the lines of chaos ensuing at a destination wedding and finding your long lost love, ‘Mother of the Bride’ feels like a milder version of the same. The film also delves into Emma’s obsession with social media likes and followers but isn’t explored well at all. The movie is an amalgamation of likable characters and messages but due to its under developed screenplay and not feeling the weight of the emotions, Mother of the Bride unfortunately becomes quite a forgettable watch.

Mother of the Bride is currently streaming on Netflix!

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