The Wedding Ringer, though, shares a bit in common with The Hangover films (don’t run away yet), and a bit in common with that Jennifer Lopez movie where she organises weddings for other people, but never one for herself. Don’t worry. Just teasing. I know what it’s called. It’s called… (two ticks)… The Wedding Planner! See? It’s all planners, ringers and singers. It’s a wedding movie viewed from the male side, and as a result, The Wedding Ringer gets one of the shallowest, soul-destroying female lead roles in a films of this ilk. Remember how in Sleepless In Seattle, Meg Ryan’s boyfriend was conveniently disposable? Kaley Cuoco-Sweeing gets an even worse deal. Her character, Gretchen, is, well, let’s just go with ‘unpleasant’. Not that Gad’s, ultimately, is too much nicer. It’s a couple getting married on a comfortable bedding of bullshit, and both are actively complicit in that. To clarify: it still huffs and puffs through the motions, and there’s a random American Football game and a stop more than an ending to contend with. But The Wedding Ringer lives or dies on whether it makes you laugh. And it made me laugh. Kevin Hart, in an instant, makes you wish he’d got one of The Hangover roles, as I was left feeling that he’s far better at making something out of slight material than the lead trio there. But Gad too is far game. At one point, I even forget I was listening to Olaf from Frozen, such is his commitment to physical comedy in particular. So shoot me. I thought The Wedding Ringer was funny, and I quite liked it. It’s pretty front-loaded, and the comedy is low-brow. But that’s okay. I’m low-brow too. And I thought this was a solid, funny piece of puff. The Wedding Ringer is out in UK cinemas on 20th February Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
