Why would Scarlett Johansson wear a hoodie after a wedding and get pushed into a lake? It’s all part of the family drama in the new movie, My Mother’s Wedding.
The family reunion is off to a slow start when Katherine (Scarlett Johansson) reconnects with her sisters Victoria (Sienna Miller) and Georgina (Emily Beecham). Victoria hires a detective to investigate Georgina’s lying husband. When Katherine asks how she found a detective, Victoria quips, “AA, it’s fantastic for that sort of thing.”
There’s some funny dialog sprinkled into the muddled script. Too many secondary characters pop up without introductions. The first half has painful pacing, but the second half is dramatically better.
Victoria’s a celebrity in America who says “nice guys don’t want to date famous actresses”. She dresses like a local, but attracts attention like a star. Victoria has an embarrassing moment when her future stepdad stumbles into the wrong bedroom drunk and sees her naked. Without missing a beat, she says “people pay good money to see this.” The way they handle his innocent mistake proves he’s a good match for their twice-widowed mom, Diana (Kristin Scott Thomas).
Kristin Scott Thomas wrote, directed and starred in My Mother’s Wedding, making it the third time her and Scarlett Johansson played mother-daughter. Diana calls Katherine her “rock, unshakeable,” because she’s a brave Navy officer like her late dad. Katherine might not be the warmest sister, but she’s not responsible for making Georgina throw a tablet in the lake. That’s when it gets interesting!
The casting is great because the sisters have believable chemistry, acting very naturally together. Victoria wisely takes advantage of the time change between the US and the UK to call her therapist and vent about her sisters!
The final scenes are worth the wait. First, Diana gives her daughters a speech at their fathers’ graves. “You’re grown women, you don’t have to jump into bed with every man who has one.” And then the last shot panning out from Katherine on the ship is really poignant and cinematic. It’s a welcome change from all the highways and airports you typically see at the end of movies.
Follow me on Instagram & YouTube to see what’s hot in Hollywood, including my latest interviews and reviews!
Disclosure: I received a screener copy for review. Thanks, Game Theory Films!