'Our Family Wedding' review

America Ferrera and Lance Gross (Credit: Scott Garfield/Fox Searchlight)

Young couple Lucia (America Ferrera) and Marcus (Lance Gross) head home to Los Angeles after college with big news for their unsuspecting families: they’re engaged and hope to get married in a matter of weeks. Neither Marcus’ DJ father (Forest Whitaker) nor Lucia’s business owner dad (Carlos Mencia) are prepared to deal with the news, or each other.

The buzz: Director and co-writer Rick Famuyiwa isn’t a great filmmaker but his previous work on “The Wood” and “Brown Sugar” demonstrated a knack for agreeable comedies with likable casts. That could be good news for Oscar-winner Whitaker, looking to stretch beyond serious roles, and the talented Ferrera, whose career is at a turning point now that her once-hot TV series “Ugly Betty” has faded on its way to cancellation.

The verdict: One family is Mexican-American, the other is African-American, but the movie doesn’t really milk its culture clash elements beyond a few cheap laughs (Lucia’s abuela, played by Lupe Ontiveros, faints when she’s introduced to Marcus; Whitaker invents nonsensical African-American “traditions” to try to put his stamp on the wedding plans). The actual dramatic conflict—two families united through marriage—is colorblind. That approach might seem evolved, if the screenplay wasn’t so stupid. Despite an appealing cast, “Wedding” is ultimately undone by Famuyiwa’s tone-deaf direction, especially reckless in broad comedic set pieces that aim for madcap zaniness but achieve only eye-rolling embarrassment. The strained hilarity reaches its low when a goat swallows some Viagra and humps Whitaker’s leg. “Wedding” isn’t always that kind of movie, but the moments when it is are more than enough reason to send your regrets.

Did you know? What the movie lacks in class, it makes up for in style. It features the public debut of designer Monique Lhuillier’s first line of bridesmaid dresses.

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