Written by: Keith Cooper
Starring: Jocelyn Hudon, Stephen Huszar, Kelly Rutherford, Melinda Shankar
Rating: [2.5/5]
Every film has its goals and intentions in what they seek to evoke from its audience, varying from a wide array of emotions in both a positive and negative manner. Then you have those films like Christmas Wedding Planner where the only way to rationalize what see on-screen is a practical joke of a story certainly not taking itself seriously. At least I tell myself this because the alternative would mean something far worse.
Venturing into the world of wedding planning, Kelsey (Jocelyn Hudon) has her first assignment in planning her cousin, Emily’s (Rebecca Dalton) Christmas-themed wedding. As she tries to plan everything perfectly Kelsey encounters Emily’s ex-boyfriend Connor (Stephen Huszar) who’s seeking to dig up dirt on the groom much to the dismay of our protagonist.
Starting out, this feature presents something with a straight-faced approach in the way it tells a story of a conflicted wedding planner and this journey to do something exquisite for her overly-sweet cousin. She has her mishaps but seeks to correct them and then have an initial adversary on the verge of becoming a love interest. Nothing out of the ordinary for what ultimately sits on the level of a Hallmark Christmas movie even if not carrying the banner. However, once this plot continues to reveal more truth and gets towards the end this feature reaches a level of ridiculousness that must surely indicate some jest. These filmmakers could seriously not put this all together and seriously try to tell a story carrying any level of seriousness.
Watching this feature because my spouse wanted to watch something Christmasy and dumb, we found this little gem because its premise intrigued us in the way we knew it would make us laugh. For all the faults, which are many, this film carries it delivers on creating some laughter but perhaps not in the way the filmmakers intended. The directions this feature takes ultimately boggles the mind and will make you scream at the nonsense you see on-screen, which I will be kind in saying served as the intention of this movie.
These particularly wild turns certainly surprised me with how ridiculous the end results materialized but surprisingly my wife saw right through it all and somehow guessed how this film would end based on the title alone. Something she saw right through, which made the ultimate ending of the story much more enjoyable even though it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. At some point, you just need to go with it because the film does not provide much else for you to grab onto if you seek quality filmmaking, which appears in several facets.
The acting on display in this feature surely leaves plenty to be desired in how it lacks quality. Characters have this stodginess in the way they speak to each other and nothing struggles more than the central love interests Kelsey and Connor. This feature tries ridiculously hard for us to fall for these two to work together despite all of the strangeness involved in their relationship. The film tries to sell this enemy-to-best friends idea between these two as they learn more about each other but Jocelyn Hudon and Stephen Huszar just do not have what it takes in order to make this romance work other than taking in the wild decisions the film makes. They certainly did not receive any help with the writing or direction, but they certainly could not help elevate the material either.
Incredibly forgettable in all aspects of its storytelling other than the ridiculous choices it makes at the very least, Christmas Wedding Planner will entertain if you’re in a silly mood and want to watch something at the equivalent of a Hallmark Christmas movie. It has a distinct cheesiness with some horrid acting to watch, a love story that does not work, and an overall plot devoid of any sort of quality. However, it knows exactly what it wants to do as a film, and for that reason, it contains some entertainment where you can lightly entertain someone especially when you keep it on in the background and only pay attention when the feature inevitably goes off its rocker. Well and truly an unbelievable film for all of the wrong reasons.
Films with Josh 
