Jenny’s Wedding DVD Review

     Actors: Katherine Heigl, Alexis Bledel, Tom Wilkinson

Director: Mary Agnes Donoghue

Format: Multiple Formats, Color, Widescreen, NTSC

Language: English

Region: Region 1

Number of discs: 1

Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Studio: MPI Home Video

DVD Release Date: December 29, 2015

Run Time: 94 minutes

 

 

        Jenny’s Wedding is more competently made than the screenplay from writer/director Mary Agnes Donoghue deserves, thanks entirely to a cast willing to commit to outdated material always on the verge of turning into a film you would see on the Hallmark Channel. The basic structure of the film is all melodrama, enhancing the singular note of the movie with endless montages which utilize pop songs to convey the emotions the filmmaking is incapable of, but the tone of the movie takes on the air of a romantic comedy. The result is a breezy piece of bubblegum LGBT propaganda with a stacked cast.

 

        Jenny Farrell (Katherine Heigl) kept her homosexuality a secret from her conservative middle-class suburban family for her entire life, but a conversation with her father (Tom Wilkinson) convinces Jenny to propose to her longtime girlfriend. Once she realizes that a traditional life with a wedding followed by a family is what she wants, Jenny must be honest with her parents (Wilkinson and Linda Emond) about who she is. This turns out to be shameful in the close-minded community that Jenny’s parents live in, and they immediately resent their daughter for making them gossip-worthy.

 

        Although the title is Jenny’s Wedding and we know that this will be the final sequence for all characters to emotionally resolve their differences, this isn’t really a wedding movie. Although there is romance, some comedy, and it stars Katherine Heigl, this is not a romantic comedy. Jenny’s fiancé and roommate, Kitty (Alexis Bledel), is little more than a pretty face to offer mostly plutonic love, save a few carefully placed kisses. Instead, this becomes entirely a film about the gradual process her parents must take in accepting Jenny for who she is. Critics often complain about the religious propaganda of the films made by the Kendrick Brothers, and this feels like a left-wing equivalent. The actual viewing experience would have been far more enjoyable if it didn’t feel like the filmmaker was trying to pound their point in so relentlessly, however impassioned or necessary that point may be.

 

        The special features include a brief making-of featurette and the film’s trailer.   

 

Entertainment Value: 6.5/10

Quality of Filmmaking: 5/10

Historical Significance:  2/10

Special Features: 3/10




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