Wedding Wars
In the midst of organizing his brother Ben's wedding, Shel, a gay party planner, decides to go on strike for equal rights when he learns that Ben is behind a political speech against gay marriage.
-
- Cast:
- John Stamos , Eric Dane , Bonnie Somerville , Sean Maher , Rosemary Dunsmore , Jayne Eastwood , Linda Kash
Similar titles
Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Pretty Good
I wanted to but couldn't!
A story that's too fascinating to pass by...
What I liked about this was that somehow it managed to remain a comedy while treating the subject of gay marriage with respect. Best exchange of lines in the movie was between the two brother which went something like Shel being "good enough" to plan his brother's wedding but his brother not supporting Shel's right to have one of his own. The sequence with Shel and his parents was a bit forced but I can forgive this since other sequences made me laugh. Stamos plays his character as a non-stereotype and I liked his boyfriend's stance of not even wanting to get married (yet).Highly recommended.
At first glance, one might think this is a purely gay movie. If you define a gay movie as the presence of gays and gay relationships, then it might be, as you define it. But actually it is more than that. Wedding wars is one heck of a wholesome and sensible film with a nice story, an excellent script, and a good direction and music.Wedding wars tells of the wedding of Ben and Maggie and the preparations attendant to it. While it may be said that the theme of the movie is all about wedding preparations, the film actually focused on politics and brother-to-brother relationships and how these affected the wedding plans.Ben and Shel are close brothers since childhood who drifted apart when Shel confessed that he is gay. Shel thereafter pursued a party-planning career and met his lover Ted who is an Assistant District Attorney at Maine. Ben, on the other hand, became the campaign manager for Governor Welling who is running for reelection at Maine. In this career he met the Governor's daughter, Maggie whom he is now marrying.In the course of their discussions about their impending wedding, Maggie suggested that Shel be their wedding planner. Despite Ben's hesitations, Maggie prevailed and so Ben visited his gay brother, Shel who, upon learning of Maggie's request, immediately accepted the responsibility. Everything about the wedding preparations is going well as the couple-to-be and Shel really starts bonding until the incumbent Governor Welling, who, ever since, did not oppose gay relationships, made a surprising political stand on television that he is supporting a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages with a view to gaining popularity in time for his reelection bid. Incidentally, the author of that speech is none other than Ben. Shel, upon learning this, became so disgusted with his own brother that he declared a strike and picketed at the gate of the Governor's residence just two weeks before the wedding. "Why can he plan for Ben's wedding while Shel, on his part, can never ever make plans for his own wedding someday?" The characters of the story became divided as Maggie and her Mom practically sided with Shel understanding perfectly how he felt about Ben and Maggie's father.How far this situation will take all of them is the very meat of the story. Suffice to say that I admired the movie for its lack of pretenses. It is full of love, understanding, honesty, and a heart for others. Although the plot of the story is simple, the issues involved are of significant magnitude as it touched on political and social issues transcending beyond personal and familial matters. I really liked the way that wedding changed things for the characters
Lots of people in the gay and straight press berating this film for being too "fluffy" and making light of an important subject. The film reminded me of Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats.Let me explain ... when I was a kid, I would fight any attempt by parental figures to get me to try any nutritious, whole grain cereal like Shredded Wheat. Even when told I could sprinkle sugar on the big pad of shredded wheat, it had about as much appeal to me as chewing on a piece of wood. But when they came out with Frosted Mini Wheats, smaller bite-size shredded wheat with sugar frosting on one side, it made it palatable enough for me to try.I think that's what this made-for-TV movie was striving to do (and mostly succeeded): to take a BIG issue that isn't palatable to most people out there (gay marriage), sugar-coat it (do a fluffy comedy with stars popular to many TV viewers), and serve it up in small portions over a two hour period. IMO, this approach had the potential to educate people MORE about the issue than a gaggle of gay rights advocates and GLAAD spokespeople giving speeches could ever hope to do.And the message *was* definitely there, though sugarcoated and inserted in small portions throughout the two hours on A&E: (1)that "civil unions" are better than nothing but fall far short of marriage in terms of equal rights and protections, (2) the fact that a majority wants something doesn't mean it is right, and even some elected officials who may personally feel that same sex marriages should be allowed are often forced into pandering to the conservative majority in this country in order to stay in office, (3) that it is likely that you have a gay or lesbian member in your family, although they may not be "out" to you, because they suspect a negative reaction (which is caused, in no small part, by the fact that so FEW of us are out to everyone, so many people don't get to actually "know" anyone who is openly gay), 4) that even some gays have a problem reconciling the concept of committing to another man "till death do us part", mostly because we have been conditioned by society not to see that as an option, and (5) just KNOWING a family member or friend is gay is different than accepting them without reservations (illustrated by the interaction between Stamos'character and his straight brother, played by Eric Dane.)As far as the "gays on strike" concept goes, as ludicrous and unlikely as that was portrayed in the film, it still made the point that there are a hell of a lot more of us around than people think, and (contrary to what that cartoonish TV reporter thought) we are not all hairdressers, decorators and florists, but pretty much cover the entire gamut of professions and industries, making up a fairly good size chunk of this nation's economy. In the film, the "gay strike" looked like it would make it impossible to put on a big wedding, even when the event was to be held at the home of the governor of the state.I got that some of the humor was deceivingly tongue-in-cheek, such as the magazine covers and newspaper front pages signifying that the "strike" was picking up nationwide support. If you look closely, the content of each page matches the stereotype of that publications: sensationalism for the NY Post, a fashion spread for Out, Stamos standing shirtless on Genre, as a rock star for Rolling Stone, etc. A few memorable lines (e.g., when the director on a news show decides to join the protest, the anchor repeats what he sees on the TelePrompter: "Up next, I'm out of here too, a**wipes!") I also thought that the choice of "It's Not Unusual (to be in love with anyone)" as the first song we hear at the wedding party was clever, a connotation of that song I never thought about before.Was it a great movie? Hell, no; it was a tacky and cheaply made as MOST made-for-cable films today. Despite a few cringe-inducing scenes (his singing, pointing out that this was a good day for him to picket and show off his calves, etc.), John Stamos did a good job overall in the role of a non-stereotypical gay man (certainly as good as, or better, than anything we've ever seen on "Will & Grace"), as did Sean Maher as his lover (who wasn't sure if he was ready for marriage). But it wasn't meant to be a documentary, wasn't meant to intelligently argue the pros and cons in the gay marriage debate. It was meant to entertain the average American cable viewer and - along the way - perhaps spoon-feed them some aspects of the issue they might otherwise never have paid attention to hear. IMO, that makes the film worth acknowledging and worth encouraging others to see.
Wedding Wars is one of the first attempts to look at the same sex marriage struggle on a political level albeit it is done in a slyly humorous vein.John Stamos an openly gay man is a wedding planner and he's about to perform a labor of love, he's to organize the wedding of his brother who is marrying the daughter of the governor of his state. That governor is James Brolin who in his campaign for re-election has come out against same sex marriage.The important thing to remember here is Brolin is a fairly liberal fellow, but sees where the political current is running and decides not to swim against it. Stamos is upset with this turn of events though by someone who had been held out to him as gay friendly and decides to do something about it.He stages his own one man strike and his withdrawal from the wedding and picketing of the governor's mansion soon gets a lot of media attention. He doesn't win the immediate political war, but he does win the renewed love and respect from friends and family, including a brother who's life was made miserable by all the fuss.There are many things that can birth a political activist, nothing quite succeeds as when an issue involving who you are and the limits placed on your rights because of it, hits one unexpectedly. Stamos does not play a gay stereotype, he could easily have opted for that. His character grows and develops in proportion to the political awareness.Wedding Wars succeeds in delivering the message that rights and respect are not won from the closet. It's a nice made for TV film with a timeless message.