The Wedding Singer (1998)

Starring: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Christine Taylor, Allen Covert, Matthew Glave, Jon Lovitz, Robert Smigel, Steve Buscemi, Frank Sivero, Kevin Nealon, and Billy Idol
Grade: Classic

Back in the day, Adam Sandler was cranking out comedy classics. The Wedding Singer was one of Sandler’s many hits and if you watch it, you’ll see why. Goofy, hilarious, and heart-warming, Sandler and the crew are at their absolute best.

You’ll be singing “Somebody kill me please!” in your sleep!

Summary

It’s 1985 at the Ridgefield Banquet Hall, and we see wedding singer Robbie Hart (Sandler) getting the party going with his rendition of Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)”. He’s damn good at his job too. He brings up the groom’s brother David (Buscemi) for his best man speech, but David almost ruins the vibe completely with his inappropriate drunken rant. Robbie saves the day however with his own speech, relating the married couple’s love to his own since he’s marrying his fiancée Linda (Angela Featherstone) the following week. After having his bandmate George (Alexis Arquette) take over lead vocals for a break, Robbie goes over to see his best friend Sammy (Covert) who’s eyeing the waitress at the wedding, Julia (Barrymore). Tonight is Julia’s first night working at the banquet hall. Her cousin Holly (Taylor) has been working there for a while and is a known slut. This is why Sammy thinks Julia will be easy to get to, though Robbie disagrees. After getting into a mini argument with the cook (Smigel), Julia tells Holly that this wedding has only reminded her how she’s been engaged to Glenn (Glave) for two years, but they don’t seem to be getting married anytime soon. To give Julia a break, Holly covers for her so she can go outside. Robbie helps some drunk kid outside too, so the kid can puke in the dumpster, allowing for him to meet Julia for the first time. She notes she’s waitressing for Robbie’s wedding. They have a pleasant conversation, with Robbie offering encouraging words to her about her potential wedding (if it ever happens).

They are then interrupted by Sammy who tells Robbie that the crowd is turning on George because he keeps singing Boy George’s “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me”.

About a week later, we see Robbie helping Rosie (Ellen Albertini Dow) with some singing lessons for her fiftieth wedding anniversary. He doesn’t mind that his payment is meatballs. You can tell he’s doing it out of the kindness of his heart. Before he leaves, Rosie wishes him luck on his wedding day. Unfortunately, at the wedding, Linda never shows up, leaving a note to say she isn’t coming. Robbie is told the news at the altar. Following him smashing a mirror in anger, he is sitting with Sammy and Robbie’s brother-in-law Andy (Sivero) and though he’s depressed, he still thinks he’s going to get back with Linda. Later that night, she shows up and explains that she doesn’t love him anymore because he lost his ambition for being a rock star and just settled for being a wedding singer. She has no intention of getting back together with him and leaves. Meanwhile, Glenn sets the date of his and Julia’s wedding. He initially wanted to go to Las Vegas and have a small wedding but relents and agrees to have it in Ridgefield because he knows it’s what Julia wants.

A heartbroken Robbie hasn’t left his sister’s basement for five days, so Sammy takes him to a wedding singer gig in hopes of finding a girl for him. Robbie makes a disastrous speech relating to his depressing situation, and it ends with him getting his ass kicked by everyone there after a rendition of the J. Geils Band’s “Love Stinks”. Julia watches as it unfolds. Later, she goes outside to find Robbie hiding in a dumpster. She tries to cheer him up, but it’s not happening. He’s done with weddings. Julia wants him to play at her wedding, but he can’t do it anymore. Even so, she invites him and Sammy to come to her engagement party in two weeks.

Following a babysitting session for his sister’s kids, we go to the engagement party the next night. Julia and Glenn’s wedding is less than three months away. She reminds Glenn that they need to start planning for it, but he doesn’t want to be involved at all. Robbie and Sammy join the party and after meeting Glenn and his friend Jason, Robbie tells Julia that Sammy wanted to hit on her when she first started working at the banquet hall. Sammy gets annoyed and leaves the two to talk. Julia tells Robbie that since Glenn is busy with Wall Street business, he doesn’t have time to plan the wedding. She then talks about where she got the flowers from, prompting Robbie to suggest a cheaper option. It’s a nice conversation, and Robbie seems to be loosening up again. Julia mentions how they won’t be able to hang out as much now if Robbie doesn’t want to sing at weddings anymore, but there are other events. At a bar mitzvah, he sees some sad kid not dancing because a girl turned him down, so a seemingly recovered Robbie sets up a fun little plan. He brings Julia up and gives her the option to choose a dance partner out of a crowd of young boys. To make the kid feel better, she chooses the boy Robbie spoke to and everyone has a fun time. After the bar mitzvah is over, Julia thanks Robbie for his advice on the florist but mentions how worried she is about screwing up the rest of the planning stuff.

Knowing of his expertise, she asks Robbie for his help in the planning and though he needs to concentrate on work, he relents and decides to help. The planning starts to go well but things get tricky because love starts to blossom between them.

My Thoughts:

I don’t think it’s controversial to say that The Wedding Singer is one of the best romantic comedies of the 1990s. At this point, I think it’s unarguable.

The film’s success mostly stems from Adam Sandler’s performance as the titular character. Let’s be honest, Sandler is the king of the sympathetic protagonist role. Along with being hilariously heartbroken (“Once again, things that could’ve been brought to my attention YESTERDAY”), he’s able to do so without trying too hard. We really feel for Robbie, a wedding singer whose own wedding falls apart. His whole career is based around the concept of marriage but after his own relationship fails, it’s as if his whole life has been ruined. We see it in his eyes when he tries to perform, and we feel it in his soul every time he interacts with someone. There’s nothing behind his words anymore. The positive vibe and energy he used to bring into a room is gone because he’s lost his driving force in life. His feelings of hopelessness and not wanting to hear or see anything that has to do with the word “marriage” is a feeling we can relate to after a breakup. Accompanied by Sandler’s soft-spoken delivery, we can feel the pain Robbie has inside.

Enter Julia.

Played by the bubbly and always cheerful Drew Barrymore, Julia is someone who can win you over with just a smile. Barrymore has always had this quality about her, and it’s ever so present in The Wedding Singer. When we see her slowly change Robbie’s outlook on life and see him recovering before our very eyes, we can’t argue it. She has this quality about her that makes you want to smile. How can you be mad when you’re hanging out with someone like Julia every day? She’s a ray of sunshine if I’ve ever seen one. Now, you could easily pass her off as someone who just takes pity on Robbie and sees him as a project she can help for clout, but this isn’t Julia…

Sorry, social media has made me pessimistic about these sorts of people. You know the types that feel the need to make a post about the good they’ve done for someone, just so a stranger can comment “You’re such a saint!”? Well, Julia doesn’t need this validation. She’s not the type. She’s real, innocent, incredibly sweet, and exactly the person you’d want to end up with. It makes sense as to why Barrymore was cast. Isn’t it crazy that I can feel this much from a performance of a love interest in an Adam Sandler-centric comedy? Modern critics might find this baffling because of his recent string of comedies, but the difference here is evident. This is how well done the movie is, and how good Drew Barrymore can be in any given role.

Special credit goes to Matthew Glave for his role as the despicable Glenn Gulia. An interesting thing to note is that especially in Sandler’s earlier films, we’re always given a great villain that not only makes our lovable protagonist look even better but can be downright diabolical in his goals. You may hate Sandler’s films, but you can’t deny this. They don’t need weapons, henchmen, or anything else to make them evil. They’re just bad people that need a good guy like Adam Sandler to put an end to their ways. Essentially, they’re sons of bitches that need to be stopped. Well, Glenn is about as unscrupulous as they come. You cannot wait to see this asshole get his comeuppance! Now, he’s no Shooter McGavin, but in terms of comedic movie villains and Sandler antagonists, he’s in the top tier.

The supporting cast really helps complete the film too, with small notable performances from many known stars (Lovitz, Buscemi, Nealon, etc.) Additionally, Allen Covert plays a great sleazeball, and Christine Taylor can play a slut better than anyone. Kudos to this entire cast! Hell, even Billy Idol gave us one of the best celebrity cameos in movie history!

The Wedding Singer is another film that came out during the prime of Adam Sandler’s comedic career. Personally, I’ve always enjoyed his movies and his brand of humor. Admittedly, it’s not for everyone, but it is for me.

However, I can’t deny that Sandler’s 2010 decade, though still filled with funny movies, definitely doesn’t match up to his earlier work. This film is a prime example of him at his best. The Wedding Singer is one of the most complete romantic comedies out there, and I will argue that with anyone. It’s funny as hell, has the perfect blend of goofiness and genuine human emotion, an ability to reach the highest level of sweet and warm-heartedness without being sappy, a perfect matching of leads in terms of chemistry (so much so that they’ve attempted to recapture the magic twice more in 50 First Dates and Blended), a wonderfully nostalgic 80s soundtrack that keeps things fun, and a touch of movie magic that makes this love story one you want to see come together. Here, we see the rise, fall, and rise again of Robbie Hart and though things may be a bit predictable (most romantic comedies are), you don’t mind it because it’s top tier entertainment.

The Wedding Singer is one movie I’ll always recommend.