Andy Garcia and Gloria Stephanie in HBO Max’s “Father of the Bride”: Film Review

Billy Herrera, a successful architect and protagonist of the latest version the bride’s father, played by Andy García with an incredible comic cut. It has the downsides of Spencer Tracy in the 1950s hit film of the same name, the first film adaptation of Edward Streeter’s novel, and none of the heists Steve Martin brought in in the 1991 remake. father in every American comedy ever created, Billy needs information about what the world is like today. When he says, “I came to this country with nothing,” which is very likely, his wife and daughters roll their eyes and wait for a moment of conscious greatness.

The shocking reality that starts to wake her up is the news that her eldest daughter is getting married; Another surprise revolves around wedding planning. Regardless of what you think of the premise of a straight-up street romance, it’s clear that it’s tough enough to fit on a stellar screen once every 30 or 40 years. So, here comes the bride again, this time with a Latin pizza and a welcome touch to the building.

As with its predecessors (each with additional treatment), the HBO Max movie is satire at its mildest, a heartwarming portrait of the generation of the abyss and pomp and circumstance overcome, the helpless stretch needed to maintain membership in the middle. -high. Class. Despite setbacks and conflicts, we know where setbacks and stakes go and you never care. We really wondered if the wedding went off without a hitch, even when the bride-to-be was Elizabeth Taylor.

But screenwriter Matt Lopez (ᲐPromised Land) Corrects the premise to give his father’s point of view more emotional weight than the standard worry about the cost of flower arrangements and the pain of losing his little girl: Billy’s own marriage is on a rock. It is directed by Gaz Alazrak (whose feature film we are noble It was a record-breaking success in his native Mexico) bolsters Oomf on stage in Miami and with classics by Celia Cruz and Benny Morris, plus an on-screen performance by rapper Ozuna and a jazz score. The great Terence Blanchard. The festive atmosphere in the end credits sequence is a lot of fun for both the characters and the actors, and ends this trip with optimism and smalt minimization.

As the story unfolds, business-oriented Billy and his weary wife, Ingrid (Gloria Stephanie), tell their daughters that they are getting divorced; the separation is her idea, not hers. But when the eldest daughter is Sophia (Adria Arjona, s morbius s sister vef), a newly graduated lawyer, arrives from New York with the news that he has been appointed, they interrupt the announcement so as not to spoil the wedding plans and as if everything continues as before. Ku Billy returned to the couch in his office before heading to bed, pillows in hand.

And a reference to the wedding planner. When Martin Short left the role of Frank in the 1991 version with a crazy twist in the dust, the term was “wedding planner”, falsely indicating a more cooperative approach to marriage. Whatever you call them, if real-life wedding planners are just as crazy and overly abusive as their movie counterparts, wouldn’t there be a lot more loopholes?

Here it is Saturday night live streamChloe Feynman, who is used for extra games as well as torturing the Spanish language, which she does with pleasure. Dela Natalie Vance, as Frank, is a sketch of a bull character in a Chinese men’s store. It’s a little tricky, but either way, we’re not prepared to watch smart people enthusiastically buy snobbery without turning a blind eye. In a nice touch, Sofia’s younger sister, the sly and artistic Cora (Isabella Mercedes) grabs a cup of popcorn, to better enjoy the back-and-forth between the reckless Natalie and Herrera as they try to control their disbelief. While there is no time to look for a more reliable person, the script offers a good reason: the wedding has a time set because Sophia is promised, the lawyer Adani (Diego Bonetta) is ready to start working for an organization without end of profit. Natural from Mexico.

There is stability in the early stages when Alazrak forms the comedy ensemble. It’s Garcia’s dry delivery and notes of tension between Bill and Ingrid that interrupt the kick’s efficiency. Everything gradually improves, especially after Billy and Ingrid meet their sons-in-law. Adán’s father, Hernán Castillo (Pedro Damiane), is a hail-loving brewing and gas station tycoon who travels to Miami with Adán’s mother (Laura Haring), his young second wife (Macarena Achaga) and their son. , Ingrid impressed with their maturity in this situation.

In earlier stories of that story, the mother of the bride was a silent counterbalance to the husband’s drama. While this remains her main feature here, the script runs backwards, if only a little, and Estefan confidently balances the character’s natural warmth and the cold wall she’s built for Bill to shield himself from further frustration.

In short, the first class scene shows Cuban Herreras and Mexican Castillos speaking Spanish and something comes to life in the characters and actors that I wish there were more exchanges of this kind. Most of the film’s best lines belong to Garcia, forcing them to sing. Billy’s way of describing his first impression of Adan, “in his falsely bohemian vegetarian voice,” is a laugh. His slow-burning skeptical reactions are also ridiculous, especially compared to the film’s broad lines of humor, as well as the unspoken thoughts you can imagine as he tries to contain his irritation.

Igor Jadue-Lilo’s camera is most powerful in the Miami Seaside Glitter and Closing section, when nature cancels the best plans of two families and everyone, including the wedding planner, moves to high-end improvisation. Save the big day. At an early celebration, an “intimate” engagement party hosted by the famous Hernán on his yacht, DP takes a strange photo: Billy is alone on the boat’s deck, his hat stolen by the wind. Alazrak lets it play at the right moment and Garcia’s response is excellent. Billy may be stubbornly old-fashioned, but he’s learning the flow.