Review: ‘The Good House,’ starring Sigourney Weaver and Kevin Kline

December 28, 2022

by Carla Hay

Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver in “The Good House” (Photo by Michael Tompkins/Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)

“The Good House”

Directed by Maya Forbes and Wally Wolodarsky

Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional town of Wendover, Massachusetts, the comedy/drama film “The Good House” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few Asians and African Americans) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A real-estate agent, who is an alcoholic with big financial problems, tries to salvage her business around the same time that she rekindles a romance with a former high-school classmate who is almost her complete opposite. 

Culture Audience: “The Good House” will appeal primarily to people who are fans of Sigourney Weaver and movies about middle-aged people trying to improve their lives but sometimes stumble in the process.

Morena Baccarin and Sigourney Weaver in “The Good House” (Photo by Michael Tompkins/Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions)

“The Good House” is neither terrible nor outstanding but might be appealing to viewers who are interested in seeing emotionally authentic movies about middle-aged people dealing with personal problems. Sigourney Weaver’s feisty performance as an alcoholic real-estate agent is the main reason to watch this uneven dramedy. The movie’s storyline about seeking a redemptive comeback is handled better than the movie’s storyline about finding love.

Husband-and-wife filmmakers Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky directed “The Good House” and co-wrote the adapted screenplay with Thomas Bezucha. “The Good House” is based on Ann Leary’s 2013 book of the same name. After having its world premiere at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival, “The Good House” screened at the 2022 Provincetown International Film Festival in Massachusetts and the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.

“The Good House” is of those movies where the protagonist not only does voiceover narration but also looks at the camera to talk directly to viewers. If you have tolerance for this type of presentation in a movie that plays it safe overall with a talented group of cast members, then “The Good House” is worth watching. The dialogue is often sharp and witty, even though some of the plot developments are stale and predictable.

The protagonist of “The Good House” is outspoken and sassy Hildy Good (played by Weaver), who has lived in the fictional town of Wendover, Massachusetts, her entire life. As Hildy says proudly in a voiceover near the beginning of the movie: “My family has lived in Wendover for almost 300 years.” (“The Good House” was actually filmed in Nova Scotia, Canada.)

Hildy, who is divorced with two adult daughters, comes from a working-class background (her father was a butcher), but she became a successful real-estate agent. She is currently an independent realtor with her own small business called Good Realty, where she has one employee: a ditzy assistant named Kendall, who is taking a gap year before she goes to college. Hildy lives with two beloved female dogs: a Papillon and a Border Collie, which are her constant companions.

Most of Hildy’s clients are wealthy residents of Massachusetts’ North Shore. During a showing of a house to married potential buyers Lisa Sanderson (played by Holly Chou) and Rob Sanderson (played by Anthony Estrella), Hildy comments, “We will find you the right house. Buying a house that is out of reach is a recipe for misery.”

Hildy then turns to the camera and says, “I should know. I bought a house I could almost afford. And if everything had gone according to plan, I’d be fine.” Hildy also describes herself as a self-made woman who “worked her way through UMass [the University of Massachusetts], and I’m the top broker on the North Shore. Or at least I was until …”

Lately, Hildy has been dealing with some major setbacks that have negatively affected her business. For starters, she’s an alcoholic who is in deep denial about needing treatment for this disease. Secondly, she’s getting stiff competition from realtor Wendy Heatherton (played by Kathryn Erbe), who used to work for Hildy, “before raiding my Rolodex and stealing all of my clients,” according to Hildy. Third, Hildy has increasing debts, due to not being to make as much money as she used to make, in addition to helping out her adult daughters financially and paying alimony to her ex-husband.

Hildy’s elder daughter Tess (played by Rebecca Henderson) lives In Beverly, Massachusetts, with her husband Michael (played by Sebastien Labelle) and their toddler daughter Lottie. Hildy’s younger daughter Emily (played by Molly Brown) is a bachelorette and an artist who lives in Brooklyn, New York, and has a roommate, but Emily gets help from Hildy to pay the rent and other bills. Hildy is hiding her money problems and thinks this is what can put her back on the right financial track: “I need a good year.”

Hildy believes that she’s found some of this financial windfall in a potential sale of a waterfront property owned by Frank Getchell (played by Kevin Kline), who has had the property in his family for years, but he doesn’t want to sell it. He owns a successful maintenance company called Frank Getchell Contracting. Frank, who is a never-married bachelor with no children, has more than enough money to lead a flashy lifestyle, but he lives modestly and is somewhat of a misfit loner in the community.

When Hildy tells Frank that a lawyer from Boston is interested in buying Frank’s waterfront property, Frank rejects the idea of selling it. Hildy tries to get Frank to change his mind by saying: “You’re a businessman, Frank. Don’t you want to make money?” Frank replies, “Not as much as you do. The butcher’s daughter has gone fancy pants.”

Frank and Hildy have a past together: Frank was Hildy’s first love, and they had a short-lived romance during the summer before she went away to college. The relationship didn’t last because their lives went in two different directions: Frank joined the U.S. Army, while Hildy went to the University of Massachusetts. Hildy ended up marrying an affluent college classmate named Scott Good (the father of Tess and Emily), “who introduced me to high thread-count linens and fine wine. I do miss sailing,” Hildy says.

After 20 years of marriage, Scott left Hildy for another man, which is why they got divorced. Hildy is still bitter about this rejection, but it’s later revealed that her divorce isn’t the real reason why she became an alcoholic. Scott (played by David Rasche) is on cordial terms with Hildy, and they sometimes socialize with each other at mutual friends’ events.

Unfortunately, the trailer for “The Good House” already reveals about 70% of the movie’s plot, including Frank and Hildy rekindling their romance. What the trailer doesn’t reveal is a soap opera-type subplot involving two married couples who know Hildy, who finds out a scandalous secret that could affect these couples’ marriages. (The secret is the most obvious one possible.)

The first couple at the center of a potential scandal are Rebecca McAllister (played by Morena Baccarin) and Brian McCallister (played by Kelly AuCoin), who is a workaholic businessman. The other spouses are psychiatrist Peter Newbold (played by Rob Delaney) and Elise Newbold (played by Laurie Hanley), who live in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Hildy has known Peter since he was a child. Hildy and her close friend Mamie Lang (played by Beverly D’Angelo) used to babysit Peter when Peter was about 8 years old.

Rebecca is a homemaker who is friendly but has some emotional issues. In an early scene in the movie, when Hildy is showing the Sandersons a house near Rebecca’s home, Hildy is somewhat horrified to see Rebecca gardening in the front yard while wearing a white nightgown and construction shoes. Hildy discreetly says to Hildy, “It’s chilly outside, dear. Do me a favor. Put on a sweater and a hat and some leggings.” Rebecca laughs and replies, “Yes. Sometimes, I get carried away, and I don’t think things through.”

Rebecca’s husband Brian is away from home a lot because of work. And so, a lonely Rebecca befriends Hildy. They end up confiding in each other about a lot of things about their personal lives. Hildy also becomes acquainted with a married couple named Cassie Dwight (played by Georgia Lyman) and Patch Dwight (played by Jimmy LeBlanc), whose 5-year-old son Jake (played by Silas Pereira-Olson) is living with autism.

Even though Hildy lives alone, she has a fairly active social life, which usually includes going to dinner parties. At one of these parties, Hildy divulges that she’s the descendant of Sarah Good, one of the first accused witches of Salem, Massachusetts. And then, Hildy does a psychic reading at the party while the movie’s soundtrack plays Donavan’s “Season of the Witch.”

“The Good House” has scenes that sometimes awkwardly balance the comedy and the drama. This clumsiness is demonstrated the most in how the movie presents Hildy’s alcoholism, which is sometimes reduced to soundbites where she talks to the camera about it with glib jokes. The movie then uses cheap gimmicks such as hallucinations or Hildy stopping in the middle of a conversation to tell “The Good House” viewers what she’s really thinking by saying it out loud.

In one such scene, Hildy is drinking alcohol when she’s alone in her house. She quips, “I never drank alone—before rehab. Scott always said I should stop after my third drink.” Hildy then hallucinates her ex-husband Scott appearing before her to add, “That’s when you start to get out of control.” Hildy says in response, “What are you talking about? That’s when I start to feel in control.”

The trailer for “The Good House” already revealed that Hildy’s loved ones stage an intervention, in an attempt to get her to go to rehab. It’s just another scene where Hildy comes up with one-liners to continue being in denial about how serious her alcoholism is. It’s hinted at but never told in detail that Hildy’s alcoholism has alienated many of her former clients and has given Hildy a reputation for being erratic. Hildy eventually opens up to someone about some painful things from her childhood, but that’s as far as the movie goes in exploring Hildy’s psychology.

Mostly, Hildy is presented as someone who is trying to fool people into thinking that she has her whole life together when her life is actually falling apart. She doesn’t fool Frank though. It’s one of the reasons why their relationship is easy to root for, because he sees her for who she really is and loves her despite her flaws. It’s a case of “opposites attract” because Hildy likes to put on airs to impress people, while Frank is completely down-to-earth.

One of the shortcomings of “The Good House” is that instead of focusing more on the relationship between Hildy and Frank, the movie tends to get distracted by the messy and melodramatic subplot involving Rebecca, Brian, Peter and Elise. Throughout the movie, Hildy has some drunken antics, with a few of these shenanigans having consequences that might serve as a wake-up call for Hildy to get professional help for her problems.

Weaver doesn’t disappoint in giving a very watchable performance of this emotionally damaged character. The supporting cast members are also up to the task in playing their roles. However, Hildy’s often-prickly personality is written in the movie as overshadowing all the other characters. Sometimes this character dominance is a benefit to “The Good House,” and sometimes it’s a detriment. “The Good House” doesn’t always succeed in having a consistent tone, but the story has enough realistic portrayals of adult relationships to make it an appealing story to viewers who are inclined to watch these types of movies.

Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions released “The Good House” in select U.S. cinemas on September 30, 2022. The movie was released on digital and VOD on October 18, 2022. “The Good House” was released on Blu-ray and DVD on November 22, 2022.

Review: ‘Werewolves Within,’ starring Sam Richardson, Milana Vayntrub, Catherine Curtin, Michaela Watkins, Michael Chernus, Cheyenne Jackson and Harvey Guillén

July 12, 2021

by Carla Hay

Pictured clockwise, from left: Catherine Curtin, Milana Vayntrub, Harvey Guillén, Cheyenne Jackson, George Basil, Sarah Burns and Sam Richardson in “Werewolves Within” (Photo by Sabrina Lantos/IFC Films)

“Werewolves Within”

Directed by Josh Ruben

Culture Representation: Taking place in the fictional city of Beaverfield, Vermont, the horror film “Werewolves Within” features a mostly white group of people (with one African American, one Latino and one biracial Native American) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.

Culture Clash: A newly appointed forest ranger arrives in Beaverfield, a rural city that’s in turmoil over a fracking debate and speculation that a killer werewolf is on the loose.

Culture Audience: “Werewolves Within” will appeal primarily to fans of the “Werewolves Within” video game and to people who are interested in memorable horror comedies with quirky characters.

Michaela Watkins in “Werewolves Within” (Photo by Sabrina Lantos/IFC Films)

There’s a particular art to blending horror and comedy that “Werewolves Within” achieves with goofy and quirky charm. It’s a well-cast movie that has obvious influences—namely, filmmaker brothers Joel and Ethan Coen 1996 dark comedy “Fargo” and filmmaker Edgar Wright’s 2004 zombie comedy “Shaun of the Dead.” However, “Werewolves Within” (directed by Josh Ruben and written by Mishna Wolff) still keeps the wacky spirit of the Ubisoft video game on which it is based. It’s one of the few video-game-to-movie adaptations that isn’t an embarrassment to the video game.

“Werewolves Within”—which takes places during a snowy winter in the fictional rural city of Beaverfield, Vermont—has a wisecracking tone throughout the film but still maintains an aura of impending doom, as the body count begins to increase. When newly appointed forest ranger Finn Wheeler (played by Sam Richardson) arrives in Beaverfield to start his new job, he arrives in a city that’s plagued by divisive tensions over a fracking controversy. There’s also speculation that a wild animal (possibly a werewolf) is responsible for a recent bloody death of a hunter in the woods, nearly a month earlier.

Finn has his own personal issues going into this job. He’s very insecure about being perceived as a wimp who’s too nice. The first time that viewers see Finn is in his car, as he’s driving to Beaverfield. He’s listening to a self-help motivational podcast or audio recording to learn how to be an assertive alpha male. During the course of the movie, viewers will see that Finn (who was transferred to Beaverfield by the U.S. Forest Service) has to battle his own inner demons and insecurities, as well as the major problems that he comes across in Beaverfield.

“Werewolves Within” moves at such a quick pace that within the first 15 minutes of the film, Finn has met all of the characters who will be in this story. They are:

  • Jeanine Sherman (played by Catherine Curtin), the mild-mannered owner of the Beaverfield Inn, where Finn is living.
  • Sam Parker (played by Wayne Duvall), an arrogant executive from Midland Gas, the company that wants to buy land in Beaverfield for fracking purposes.
  • Cecily Moore (played by Milana Vayntrub), a friendly and talkative mail carrier from the U.S. Postal Service, who lives at the Beaverfield Inn rent-free in exchange for assisting with the inn’s cleaning duties.
  • Dr. Jane Ellis (played by Rebecca Henderson), a politically liberal, serious-minded sociologist and environmentalist who is vehemently against anything that she thinks is damaging to the environment, such as what Midland Gas wants to do.
  • Emerson Flint (played by Glenn Fleshler), a gruff and reclusive animal trapper who is the subject of a lot of the town’s gossip.
  • Devon Wolfson (played by Cheyenne Jackson), a vain millionaire who founded a tech company and who gave up life in a big city for a more laid-back lifestyle in Beaverfield.
  • Joaquim Wolfson (played by Harvey Guillén), Devon’s flamboyant and sassy husband who owns a yoga studio in town.
  • Trisha Anderton (played by Michaela Watkins), an uptight neurotic who has a passion for crafting and is the owner of Anderton Farms, which has been in her family for 90 years.
  • Pete Anderton (played by Michael Chernus), Trisha’s politically conservative, lecherous husband who has a wandering eye and wandering hands when it comes to women who aren’t his wife.
  • Gwen Sieczkowski (played by Sara Burns), a tough-talking mechanic who had a somewhat secret affair with Pete.
  • Marcus (played by George Basil), Gwen’s boyfriend who is unemployed, financally broke and very dimwitted.

These residents of Beaverfield have various opinions of what Midland Gas wants to do in Beaverfield. Beaverfield Inn owner Jeanine is reluctant to sell her property to Midland Gas, even though the company is offering her a lot of money to sell. Devon and Joaquim, who identify as progressive liberals, are inclined to be against what Midland Gas wants to do.

Meanwhile, Trisha, Pete, Gwen and Marcus think that Midland Gas will bring a lot of business to Beaverton, and they want to profit from it as much as possible. Cecily hasn’t expressed a strong opinion one way or another. But she does tell Finn that she likes her living arrangement, and that she hopes that the Beaverfield Inn won’t be sold to Midland Gas, which would demolish the inn for fracking activities.

The first time that Cecily and Finn meet, it’s at the inn, and there’s an immediate attraction between them. Finn isn’t as obvious about his attraction to Cecily when they first meet, because he tells her that he has a girlfriend named Charlotte, who’s in the city where he used to live. Charlotte is never seen in the movie, but her phone conversations with Finn make it clear to viewers that she likes to nag and henpeck Finn and doesn’t really respect him.

Finn decided to transfer to Beaverfield as part of his goal to be an alpha male, by taking on a challenge outside of his comfort zone. His relationship with Charlotte is somewhat in limbo because he doesn’t know how long he might be in Beaverfield. Meanwhile, Cecily notices that Finn and Charlotte’s relationship is on shaky ground. Cecily isn’t afraid to tell Finn what she thinks about it.

Because she’s a mail carrier who knows a lot of the personal business of the Beaverfield residents, Cecily is Finn’s main source of information and gossip about what’s been going on in Beaverfield. She tells Finn that Jeanine’s husband left Jeanine to run off to Belize with another woman. Cecily is also the one to tell Finn about Pete and Gwen’s affair, which appears to be over. Pete’s wife Trisha and Gwen’s boyfriend Marcus don’t know about the affair.

Finn doesn’t get a friendly welcome from Emerson. Immediately after Finn arrives in Beaverfield, Cecily gives Finn a written complaint about Emerson from Dr. Ellis, who has accused Emerson of illegal trapper activities in her complaint. When Finn goes over to Emerson’s cabin to investigate, Emerson (carrying a rifle and wearing wolf hide with the wolf’s head still attached) angrily chases Finn off of his property.

A huge snowstorm soon hits the area, leaving all transportation to and from Beaverfield temporarily suspended. Somehow, everyone in this story except for Emerson ends up at the Beaverfield Inn for shelter. And that’s when the killings start with a vengeance.

“Werewolves Within” has such distinct characters that it’s very easy to tell all of them apart from each other. The movie has fun with spoofing stereotypes. Dr. Sherman is an unsmiling, “gloom and doom” type who might or might not be a mad scientist. Gay couple Devon and Joaquim are fussy and argumentative. Trisha and Pete are superficial, materialistic and show hints of being racist and homophobic.

Although there aren’t many set pieces in this movie, which takes place in a very confined area, the production design is done well for this low-budget film. (“Werewolves Within” takes place in Vermont, but the movie was actually filmed in New York state.) Of particular note is the Axe Den, a recreational room that’s on the Beaverfield Inn property. It’s Cecily’s favorite place to hang out, and she introduces Finn to an empty Axe Den during the snowstorm.

The Axe Den is a kitschy place filled with vintage arcade games and a jukebox that has mostly pop songs from the 1990s. Ace of Base’s hit “The Sign” is prominently featured in “Werewolves Within,” with great comedic effect. And it should come as no surprise that the Axe Den is where the movie’s biggest showdown happens.

The very self-aware comedy of “Werewolves Within” doesn’t come at the expense of delivering a genuinely engaging mystery. Dr. Ellis has been able to determine in her makeshift lab at the inn that a wolf-like animal is responsible for this killing spree. However, some of the people trapped at the Beaverfield Inn aren’t convinced. Who or what is the real killer? The answer is revealed at the end of the movie.

All of the cast members handle their roles with aplomb, even though some characters verge on parody. Most of the emotional core of the film is with Finn and Cecily, who have to navigate their attraction to each other during the growing terror about the killer on the loose. Richardson and Vayntrub have believable chemistry as a would-be couple caught in this precarious situation. Their comedic timing is one of the highlights of “Werewolves Within.”

The comedy in the movie isn’t for everyone, because some viewers might find it to be too glib or too on-the-nose. But for everyone else—especially for people who like horror comedies with a cheeky tone— there’s a lot that’s appealing about “Werewolves Within.” This movie would make a great double feature with 2020’s “The Wolf of Snow Hollow,” another werewolf horror movie that combines comedy with a murder mystery.

Ruben’s direction of “Werewolves Within” keeps it at a brisk pace (the movie’s total running time is 97 minutes), so there’s little chance of boredom setting in with viewers. The movie doesn’t over-rely on slapstick comedy but instead derives a lot of comedy from how the cast members interpret the snappy dialogue. “Werewolves Within” is the type of horror film where it’s very entertaining to watch these characters for the entire movie, even if you’d never want to be stuck in snowstorm with most of them.

IFC Films released “Werewolves Within” in select U.S. cinemas on June 25, 2021, and on digital and VOD on July 2, 2021.

Review: ‘A Simple Wedding,’ starring Tara Grammy, Christopher O’Shea, Rita Wilson, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Maz Jobrani and Houshang Touzie

February 14, 2020

by Carla Hay

Christopher O’Shea and Tara Grammy in “A Simple Wedding” (Photo courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)

“A Simple Wedding”

Directed by Sara Zandieh 

Culture Representation: Taking place in Los Angeles and California’s Orange County, the romantic comedy “A Simple Wedding” features a cast of middle-class characters who are primarily of Iranian descent or white, with some representation of the LGBTQ community.

Culture Clash: A straight woman and a bisexual man fall in love with each other, despite coming from two different backgrounds: She has a conservative Iranian family and he has a non-traditional white American family.

Culture Audience: This movie will appeal mostly to fans of “opposites attract” romantic comedies or movies about contrasting families.

James Eckhouse, Peter Mackenzie, Rita Wilson, Christopher O’Shea, Tara Grammy, Houshang Touzie and Shohreh Aghdashloo in “A Simple Wedding” (Photo courtesy of Blue Fox Entertainment)

When a romantic comedy has the word “wedding” in the title, there’s a certain kind of audience it has in mind. And then there’s everyone else who’ll be repelled or will have no interest in watching what is sure to be a bunch of sappy clichés. But if you’re the type of person who hates stories that revolve around weddings because so many of these stories recycle the same tropes, then consider “A Simple Wedding,” which is a sharp and witty romantic comedy for people who usually hate romantic comedies. Even if it’s far from a groundbreaking film, “A Simple Wedding” is entertaining from beginning to end because of its unique take on cultures we normally don’t see in American films.

Directed by Sara Zandieh (who co-wrote the screenplay with Stephanie Wu), “A Simple Wedding” is about not only a couple who are opposites of each other but their family backgrounds are also very different. Nousha Housseini (played by Tara Grammy) is a Los Angeles housing attorney who’s smart, sarcastically funny, and going through a family ritual that she dreads: Her Iranian immigrant parents—mother Ziba (played by Shohreh Aghdashloo) and father Reza (Houshang Touzie), who live in nearby Orange County—have been setting up meetings with Nousha and eligible bachelors of Iranian descent, with the expectation that Nousha will enter into an arranged marriage.

Nousha, who’s in her early 30s, isn’t too keen on getting married to anyone because she doesn’t think she’s ready yet. And if she does get married, she wants it to be for love, not because it was arranged for her by other people. In the film’s opening scene, Nousha deliberately sabotages a meeting with her parents, her fiancé and his parents. It’s not shown or mentioned in the movie how long Nousha has been dating her fiancé. (Keep in mind that in certain cultures, it’s not unusual for people in arranged marriages to get engaged after knowing each other for a few days.)

While visiting at the other couple’s house with the would-be husband in attendance, Nousha offers a birthday cake to the wife and sings “Happy Birthday” in the seductive way that Marilyn Monroe famously sang the song to President John F. Kennedy. The mother doesn’t know what to make of this unexpected delivery and is very uncomfortable with the way Nousha is singing the song to her. It’s so unnerving that she cuts the meeting short and says that maybe Nousha isn’t the right match for her son. “Are you breaking up with me?,” Nousha says as she tries to hide her smile.

Mission accomplished. Her parents are disappointed that Nousha’s been eliminated as a prospective wife for this well-to-do and educated suitor, but Nousha is happy that her plan has worked perfectly to get out of being married off to him. As she argues with her parents later, she says that she thinks marriage is an outdated institution and she doesn’t want to be stifled by it. Meanwhile, her outspoken mother whines, “I can’t sleep until you get married!”

Nousha’s circle of friends includes a lesbian couple named Lynne (played by Rebecca Henderson) and Tessa (played Aleque Reid), who are mothers of a pre-school-age girl. When Nousha tells Tessa and Lynne about the breakup, they tell her that she was just in the relationship for the sex with the guy and to please her parents’ expectation that she would marry him. “Oh my God!” Nousha exclaims. “I was doing him for my mom!”

Lynne is one of Nousha’s co-workers, and she’s already spread the word that Nousha has broken up with her latest boyfriend and that she’s available to start dating someone new. Nousha figures out that her love life has become gossip fodder at her job, because after Nousha has told Lynne about the breakup, people in the office keep asking Nousha how she’s feeling, with a sympathetic tone in their voices. And one creepy male co-worker who’s been trying to hook up with Anousha reminds her in a hilarious way how he’s available if she’s interested. (She makes it clear that she’s not interested.)

Meanwhile, Lynne has been asking people at her job to join her in a public protest against sexism and misogyny. Nousha considers herself to be a progressive liberal, so she participates in the protest, which Lynne has named “Pussies Against Patriarchy.” The turnout isn’t very large (less than 20 people), but they are joined by an all-male group of feminists who call themselves The Minstrels.

One of the Minstrels is a lanky, boyishly good-looking artist/DJ named Alex Talbot (played by Christopher O’Shea), who locks eyes with Nousha during the protest. They start flirting with each other, and Nousha gives him her business card. He doesn’t wait long to call her and ask her out on a date.

Over dinner at a hipster-looking dive café, Alex and Nousha talk about their childhood crushes that they would be embarrassed to tell most people. For Nousha, it was David Hasselhoff. For Alex, it was Celine Dion. (And he confesses that Celine is still a major turn-on for him.)

Nousha immediately assumes that Alex must be gay, but he tells her that he’s sexually attracted to men and women—and that he’s attracted to Nousha. She then reveals that she can do a pretty good Celine Dion impersonation because her mother is a big fan, and Anousha learned how to impersonate Celine Dion when she was a child so “my mother would like me better.” After much pleading from Alex, Nousha reluctantly does her Celine Dion impersonation for him while sitting at the café table. That pretty much seals the deal, so it’s no surprise that when they go back to Alex’s place, they become lovers.

During their whirlwind romance, Alex and Nousha spend as much time as they can with each other, but Nousha is very hesitant at first to introduce him to her parents. Alex is the type of free-spirited, avant-garde artist who hangs up on his wall a drawing that he did of Saddam Hussein kissing Andy Warhol. She also has some concerns about Alex’s financial stability—as a struggling artist, his low income is unpredictable—and the fact that she makes a lot more money than he does.

Although Nousha and Alex are both politically liberal, they have different personalities. Nousha is ambitious, high-strung and practical, while Alex is more of a laid-back, “go with the flow” dreamer. Because they spend so much time together and because Nousha doesn’t care for Alex’s dumpy loft in a low-income area, it’s only a matter of time before they move in together to a place that’s more suited to Nousha’s comfort level. But Nousha still doesn’t tell her parents about Alex, because she thinks he won’t fit in with her family.

It’s not just because Alex isn’t Muslim or because her family also disapproves of couples living together before they get married. It’s also because Alex has a very unconventional family, whom he affectionately calls “crazy.” His parents divorced when he was 16, and his father Bill (played by Peter Mackenzie) ended up marrying another man. Meanwhile, Alex’s mother, Maggie Baker (played by Rita Wilson), is still bitter about the divorce and has given up on finding love again. She has a lot of animosity toward Bill’s husband Steven (played by James Eckhouse), whom she blames for breaking up her marriage.

During a Facetime chat that Nousha has with her mother, Ziba sees a shirtless Alex in the background, so Nousha finally tells her mother about her relationship with Alex. When the inevitable time comes to meet Nousha’s family—which includes her maternal grandmother (played by Jaleh Modjallal)—Nousha warns Alex that her family will pressure them into getting married. Needless to say, Nousha and Alex do in fact get engaged. And her family— following the tradition of the bride’s family hosting the wedding—wants to goes all-out for the occasion. However, Nousha insists that the wedding should be a small event in her parents’ backyard.

During the wedding plans, Nousha’s Uncle Saman (played by Maz Jobrani), who is her father’s brother, comes to visit the family. Saman is a war veteran who has never been married and doesn’t have kids. (People who first meet him assume that he’s gay, but he’s not.) Saman gets pulled into the rehearsals for the wedding march because Alex’s mother Maggie needs a partner for the procession. Bill and Steven are paired together, and Nousha’s parents are also coupled up, so it would look awkward for Maggie to not have someone to walk with too. Because of underlying tensions and because of the big cultural differences in the two families, there are several arguments and moments of discomfort that are played for laughs in the movie.

Fortunately, “A Simple Wedding” has a well-cast group of actors who handle their performances with believability, charm and great comedic timing. These actors know that the right pauses and facial expressions can turn a scene from something that would land with a thud to a scene that will make people burst out laughing. A lot of the dialogue also looks improvised.

As the story’s protagonist, Nousha is not a typical heroine of a wedding movie. She’s bossy, she’s impatient, and she’s frequently cynical about the concept of “happily ever after.” And even though she’s an attorney, she’s not that straight-laced, since she likes to get high on various substances—and not all of them are legal. Alex is very sweet and eager-to-please (perhaps too eager, since he decides to give himself the nickname Mohammed), but he still maintains a strong sense of identity and feels comfortable with who he is.

The movie has some slapstick moments that look a bit awkward, but the real humor is in the snappy remarks and reactions of the story’s characters. “A Simple Wedding” is worth seeking out for people looking for an enjoyable romantic comedy that has a slightly raunchy sense of humor but still has a sentimental soft spot inside.

Blue Fox Entertainment released “A Simple Wedding” in select U.S. cinemas and on VOD on February 14, 2020.

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