In License to Wed, Robin Williams stars as Reverend Frank, who leads a marriage counseling course that he offers to engaged couples to be married in his church, St. Augustine’s. The movie centers itself on a couple: Mandy Moore, as Sadie, who is engaged to Ben, played by John Krasinski.
The movie begins in a Starbucks, where the couple first meets, getting to the door at the same time, and then striking up conversation as they wait in line. They date, and quickly find that they are ready for marriage. The movie showcases several normal but awkward moments the couple faces in their relationship, which in turn provides much humor for the audience.
At the 30th wedding anniversary of Sadie’s parents, Ben proposes to Sadie, and of course, Sadie agrees. She does, however, set forth the condition that they must be married by Reverend Frank at the church that Sadie grew up in. Once they go to meet Reverend Frank, they learn about the marriage counseling course that they must take and pass before they are able to be married. Throughout the movie, Reverend Frank is shadowed by a mentee (Josh Flitter) who further adds to the experience. Flitter does a marvelous job of granting opportunities for additional laughs.
The couple is given a book to write their own vows, follow a few rules, and given different exercises to improve their relationship. Some of the exercises included acting out a fight, one partner driving blindfolded, and my favorite, the robotic children.
I thought this movie was borderline “chick-flick” mainly because the storyline was fairly predictable. However, I also believed the writers did a great job in making sure there was enough humor scattered throughout the movie in order to keep the guys in the theater awake and interested. Krasinski did a wonderful job of playing the fiancé—very laid-back and generally clueless. It seemed like the perfect role for him. I also thought he did better in this role than he generally does in “The Office.”
It seemed that some of the supporting cast overdid their roles, and that they could have been downplayed slightly. Some of the excess could have been cut out, especially with Sadie’s family problems always returning throughout the movie, since they did not seem to necessarily add to the scene.
Williams showed quite a bit of versatility in the film. This role was quite different for him than others that we’ve seen, like his roles in both Patch Adams and Flubber. I liked his eccentricities as a priest, and felt that his role was played well and not overdone. He was also able to correlate his role with Flitter very well, who was my favorite character in this movie. He did a remarkable job as a young minister-in-training and was able to showcase his talent as an actor.
While I thought Moore was cute, I felt that her performance was just average. In scenes that centered on her, I sometimes found my thoughts straying from the story line, and instead thinking, “Oh, I like her dress!” I found myself liking her fashion director sometimes more than her acting, which had potential to be problematic.
Overall, I thought this was a good movie. In hindsight, would I go to the theater and shell out the $8 to $10 to see this movie again? Probably not, but I would definitely rent it on Netflix when it comes out on DVD.
