License to Wed (2007)

Overall rating from 1 to 100: 47

O Masterpiece (95-100)
O Excellent (75-94)
O Good video rental (60-74)
O Merely OK (50-59)
X Pure mediocrity (30-49)
O Medusa: don't watch (1-29)

Review by Jason Pyles / July 7, 2007

Poor, poor John Krasinski.

I’ll tell you how “License to Wed” could be fixed: Omit Robin Williams’ Reverend Frank character and his little toady, played by Josh Flitter. Every time either of them comes on the screen, the sun goes behind the clouds again. The screenplay would have worked without them.

“License to Wed” is a formulaic romantic comedy, which is a redundancy. Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore) and Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) are your average American couple in love. Theirs seems to be a convincing chemistry, with surprising authenticity. (I credit their credibility to the actors themselves, not the material they had to work with.)

Rev. Frank (Robin Williams) begins by telling us, “Good marriages are my business.” He proceeds to describe the awkward beginnings of courtship (while demonstrating by showing us Ben and Sadie’s dating history), through the proposal to the marriage.

When Ben pops the question, he learns that his future bride wishes to marry at St. Augustine’s, which is where Rev. Frank leads his flock. Next Ben learns that in order to receive the reverend’s services, he and his fiancée must complete Frank’s marriage preparation course. The course cannot be dropped, and the reverend has to feel that the couple is prepared.

Basically, this is a setup for the following concept: an otherwise normal couple without significant problems is afflicted by a crazy man’s even crazier marriage prep. class. And naturally, Sadie is idiotically oblivious to the madness, while Ben is essentially tortured by Rev. Frank.

Robin Williams is not funny in this movie. Mandy Moore is somewhat endearing, and John Krasinski carries the movie on his back. We enjoy his attempts and little else. For fans of Krasinski’s Jim from “The Office,” you will enjoy a little more talkative, less collected version of the same character here. And for fans like me who will only attend this movie to see Krasinski, you may be happy to see cameos from several other cast members from “The Office.” Wow.

Here are some other problems: Robin Williams’ Rev. Frank does not seem like a man of the cloth. He is vulgar and irreverent, particularly toward deity. There is also a scene that involves violent abuse of robotic babies that is nothing less than immoral and irresponsible.

“License to Wed” had enough magic with Ben and Sadie (and her quirky family) to be a delightful romantic comedy. Instead, it was overrun by Robin Williams, sex jokes and predictability. Watching reruns of “The Office” is a superior alternative.

Poor, poor John Krasinski.

Directed by Ken Kwapis
Robin Williams / Mandy Moore / John Krasinski
90 min. Comedy / Romance
MPAA: PG-13 (for sexual humor and language)

Copyright 2007.
JP0146 : 421