‘License to Wed’:
Not too engaging

At the Movies
By Senitra Horbrook

During the movie License to Wed, characters play a little word-association game to help the groom get to know his future in-laws. "Vanilla" is how a woman describes her future grandson-in-law.
My thoughts exactly. Not about the character, but the entire movie. Vanilla, bland, whatever you want to call it, the word sums up License to Wed perfectly.
Director Ken Kwapis brings another predictable romantic comedy that has more misses than hits when it comes to humor. Stars Robin Williams, John Krasinski and Mandy Moore should have said "I don’t" when they were offered their roles.
Williams’ character, an unorthodox reverend, is crude, rude, and something you’d hope not to expect from a man of the cloth.
Mandy Moore does nothing memorable or funny. In fact, there’s not much difference between this part and her character in Because I Said So earlier this year (and that’s not a good thing).
While John Krasinski is a highlight of the film, fans would be better off just watching him in reruns of The Office until the series resumes in the fall. I’d take Jim and Pam any day over the couple in this movie. Actually, counting the number of appearances that his Office co-stars make in License to Wed became a pleasant diversion for me. In case you’re wondering, three of them have small roles.
License to Wed tells the story of Ben (Krasinski) and Sadie (Moore), who are ready to tie the knot after a whirlwind courtship and brief cohabitation. Ben would love to have a wedding on a tropical island, but it’s always been Sadie’s dream to get married in her family’s church with Rev. Frank (Williams) conducting the ceremony, so he does the husbandly thing and gives in.
Rev. Frank’s policy is that all couples must attend his marriage-preparedness course before walking down the aisle. Since the couple’s wedding date is just three weeks away (it was either that or wait years for an open date), they are forced to cram a three-month course into those three weeks.
The reverend gives them all sorts of asinine things to do to test their love for each other. (I’m still not sure what’s accomplished by forcing a woman to drive a car blindfolded while her fiancé directs from the back seat.)
Rev. Frank also bugs Ben and Sadie’s bedroom and listens to their conversations, just to make sure they’re not intimate again before the honeymoon. He gives them two creepy-looking dolls for a crash course on parenting.
Speaking of creepy kids, Rev. Frank has a choirboy sidekick (Josh Flitter) whom the clergyman calls his minister-in-training. Choirboy follows the reverend around and imitates his every move. He also switches the dolls into meltdown mode, causing them to cry uncontrollably, and pretty soon an unhinged Ben and Sadie are in meltdown mode themselves.
Being that License to Wed is a predictable romantic comedy, it ends, well, predictably. I won’t give away the ending; it won’t be long before you may want to catch it on cable.
Since 50 percent of marriages end in divorce, I think a prep course could be useful. But the humor value in a movie is lost when it pits a couple against each other in silly situations to make them act like bratty children.
Rev. Frank advises couples to "act surprised" on the honeymoon. I won’t believe you if you see this movie and "act surprised" that it’s so bad. You were warned. ••
Movie Grade: D