Plot Synopis: After Robert (Mike Damus) accidentally shoots his fiancé’s maid of honor in the face, he and his family go to great lengths to cover it up and protect the wedding. Naturally, chaos ensues.
Matt Stetler
It’s good to see someone take such an honest approach to making a film about weddings. After you watch Shotgun Wedding, you’ll realize how laughable that statement is. Shotgun Wedding is a mockumentary of sorts, showing just how far some people will go for the perfect wedding. Trust me, you’ll have to suspend disbelief to really enjoy this film, as out of the ordinary occurrences are handled in the most unbelievable manner. It fits with the entire theme of the film though, so it doesn’t change its dynamic or make it unwatchable. The performances may seem over the top early on, even before the carnage starts, but take it from someone who is married, weddings make normal people go crazy. Fun fact, the day of my wedding I forgot one of the readings for the church ceremony at home. I had the unfortunate task of admitting this to my wife while we sat on the alter at the church. I’m pretty sure that if she was carrying a gun or knife with her that day, I wouldn’t be here writing this article today. Like I said, weddings make people go crazy.
All the standard stereotypes of cattiness between bridesmaids who weren’t picked for maid of honor toward the actual maid of honor, to radical differences between both sets of parents and even the pre-wedding jitters of the bride and groom are addressed early on in the movie. Then, something bad happens on the eve of the wedding to a party member. Instead of dealing rationally with it, it’s dealt with in the totally opposite way. This starts a chain reaction of hilarity that is very dark. You have to enjoy black humor to really get into Shotgun Wedding. The actors should be familiar faces from either bit parts in TV and film to even commercials, and they all do a great job in keeping the dark humor from getting to dark. The best of the bunch are the bride and groom, Kim Shaw and Mike Damus, who, despite their perfect day crumbling around them, are able to stay likeable amongst the chaos their friends and family are causing.
Not everything was perfect with Shotgun Wedding though. The movie starts with an odd opening credits sequence, which at the time seems like it could fit with the rest of the movie, when in actuality it has nothing to do with any of the film really. It feels like it is almost some sort of dupe to the audience, like giving someone one of those fake scratch off lottery tickets. The last 20 minutes also fell flat for me. I understand this is satire in its most extreme form, but the ending shouldn’t have been such a cop-out. It goes in a completely opposite direction from the rest of the film and doesn’t keep the same tone. It’d be like Breaking Bad wrapping up the series with Walter White trading in his meth business and opening up an ice cream store. Despite its few faults, I did enjoy Shotgun Wedding. It’s a dark comedy that shows that sometimes, eloping is always the best option.
Why you should put this in your queue? A witty, dark comedy with some great performances from its ensemble cast. Pokes fun at what a headache a wedding can be sometimes and also pokes fun at documentary filmmakers and their “what I do changes the world” attitudes.
Why you shouldn’t put this in your queue? It’s a far-fetched and over the top idea which asks the viewer to suspend disbelief, plus it is a dark comedy, so lots of bad stuff happens to people in a way that is supposed to be looked at as comical.
Justin Oberholtzer
I was a little wary of “Shotgun Wedding” when it started. I didn’t know going in it was going to be found footage, so that took me by surprise. I’m an avid defender of the subgenre, but will admit the scene is currently bloated. I’ve seen quite a few of them in the past few weeks and I feel I’ve had my fill. I wasn’t sure if I could stomach another one.
Thankfully, “Shotgun Wedding” is a deliciously dark comedy that utilizes the found footage aspect well! It takes a little while for Danny Roew to get used to the style, but he makes it work. The idea is that the camera crew hired to film the wedding catches on to the murder and secretly film everything in order to make a successful documentary. As for the family, everybody (besides Robert) wants to cover it up to protect the wedding.
Screenwriters Patrick Casey & Worm Miller fill their script with loads of black humor to satirize everything from rich culture (Robert is marrying up) to media obsession (everybody wants to film everything) to political agendas (the bride’s father is a judge and it’s hinted that he may be crooked). There’s a good mix of grounded characters, such as Robert, his fiancé Rosemary (Kim Shaw) & best friend Ted (Kevin Christy); as well as over the top ones, such as Robert’s mother, Yvette (Bonita Friedericy), war torn DJ Marvin (Eric Nenninger) & Ted’s power hungry wife, Elizabeth (Kelsey Ford). The latter so desperately wants to be maid of honor that she’d sabotage the entire wedding just to get it.
Most of the running gags are good. Yvette & Ted constantly trying to hide the maid of honor’s body (a character in which was very annoying, I might add) is the biggest one and it almost always deliver. Another good one centering around Yvette would be her rekindling the romance with her former husband, Hank (Joel McKinnon Miller). I also got a kick out of Elizabeth’s demented demeanor. Some jokes admittedly fall flat (again, the maid of honor was way too annoying), but that’s to be expected.
I was pleasantly surprised by “Shotgun Wedding”! Dark comedies are hard to pull off, but Casey & Miller deliver the goods in the script. Once Roew gets comfortable with the format, he handles the direction well and isn’t afraid to let the film go over the top (but not too far over). Once you get comfortable with the found footage format, it’s a smooth ride.
Why Should You Put This In Your Queue? It’s a funny dark comedy that isn’t afraid to push the boundaries, but doesn’t go too far over. It’s not incredibly raunchy, but mines it’s humor from situations, albeit very crazy ones.
Why Shouldn’t You Put This in Your Queue? If you don’t like found footage films, the filming style can be off putting. It’s not as shaky as others, but still. Also, if dark humor isn’t your thing, this may not sit well with you.