Meet the Reverend
Ben Murphy (John Krasinski - Away We Go) and Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore - Because I Said So) have decided that they want to tie the knot and with Sadie having always dreamed of a church wedding they pay Reverend Frank (Robin Williams - Night at the Museum) a visit. Unfortunately the only available slot is in three weeks or wait two years and the Reverend Frank insists that they go through his intensive pre marriage course. What they don't realise is what they have let themselves in for as Frank not only spies on them he insists on chastity and even tries to cause friction between them to see if they are truly destined for a long and happy marriage.
The best part of "License to Wed" is the beginning, the scenes which focus on Ben and Sadie from the meet cute in a coffee shop to the proposal. There are some genuinely funny moments from an accident with a barrier which leaves people hurt to accidentally hitting second base when Ben saves Sadie from being hit by a car. The trouble is these best scenes last maybe five minutes and then somehow it then merges into "Meet the Parents" territory as we meet Sadie's father who doesn't think much of Ben and enjoys winding him up.
But that isn't the worst of it as after that is when we properly meet Reverend Frank and then it descends into some lame jokes of trying to split Ben and Sadie up in order to see whether they are really made for each other. Those are not the only lame jokes as we have Rev Frank's Sunday School style quiz to Sadie's sister being a drunk. I suppose lame is a bit harsh as some of it is fun but it is a case that there are no smart gags and it is a case of it all ends up incredibly similar to other movies.
Now I like most people were probably attracted to watch "License to Wed" because it stars Robin Williams and frankly Robin Williams is the best thing about the movie. The trouble is that Williams is working with a lot of weak, cliche gags which even he can't breath life into. And the saddest thing is that John Krasinski and Mandy Moore actually work well as a romantic couple but unfortunately they are not the focus of the movie. Maybe some day someone will cast them in a proper rom-com together rather than one which focuses on the comedy.
What this all boils down to is that "License to Wed" isn't actually a bad movie but it is on a par with a lot of modern movies which say they are rom-coms but are not. But it isn't full of the laughs you would hope for from a movie which stars Robin Williams.
