Father of the Bride

Father of the Bride has quietly become one of the more dependable comedies currently available in Australia on Disney Plus, and in the US on Netflix and Disney Plus. It knows exactly what kind of film it is from the opening scene, and never loses that thread. A 6/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Steve Martin leads a cast with real comic timing. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on Disney Plus.

Father of the Bride arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. The jokes in Father of the Bride land because the characters underneath them are worth caring about. George Banks is an ordinary, middle-class man whose 22 year-old daughter Annie has decided to marry a man from an upper-class family, but George can't think of what life would be like without his daughter. His wife tries to make him happy for Annie, but when the wedding takes place at their home and a foreign wedding planner takes over the ceremony, he becomes slightly insane. The chemistry Steve Martin and Diane Keaton bring to it does a lot of the heavy lifting. It was released in 1991. The real test of any comedy is whether it is still funny once you know all the jokes, and Father of the Bride holds up on rewatch in a way that separates it from one-off curiosities. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

For viewers who want something light without wanting something stupid, Father of the Bride respects your intelligence. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. A contained runtime means every scene is doing real work. Steve Martin sets the tone, but the supporting cast is where a lot of the best moments come from. A reliable pick for any night you want quality comedy without the homework.