“Shotgun Wedding” is an unfunny caricature of a romantic action comedy. There is everything, yet nothing, and not even Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel can save this ship from sinking. Granted that logic is something that we, as an audience, often overlook deliberately when watching an action comedy, “Shotgun Wedding” takes this feeling for granted to the point where it’s not even ludicrous. Most of us will watch the film with a straight face, just waiting for something to happen. But it doesn’t, which is a bummer because there were multiple opportunities for the film to become a full-fledged action comedy. One has to look for ways to entertain oneself throughout, and the whole film appears forced. Here’s more on it:
Spoilers Ahead
‘Shotgun Wedding’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
Darcy and Tom are having a destination wedding at the Mahal Island Resort, Philippines. Tom has been wanting to give Darcy the best wedding by ensuring everything is perfect, but the only thing out of place seems to be Darcy’s ex-boyfriend Sean, whom her father invited to the wedding. Tom isn’t really happy about it, and Darcy explains that his baseless insecurities aren’t doing any good for either of them. They end up having an argument in private, and Darcy almost calls off the wedding, giving her wedding ring back to Tom. But when Tom hears gunshots at a distance, he realizes that something is wrong. Minutes later, he realizes that the whole place has been taken over by pirates, who have also taken families and other guests hostage. He finds Darcy, who is worried sick, but it is up to them to figure a way out of the trouble and save their families. Meanwhile, the pirates are looking for the bride and groom. Will Darcy and Tom be able to save their wedding day? If they want to, they will have to go Rambo.
The Marriage And Other Issues
“Shotgun Wedding” shows how Darcy and Tom, through their course of surviving the Balinese pirates, also work out their misunderstandings. There is an outer conflict and an inner conflict, and the film does address them but doesn’t clarify them as such. One can only show an outer conflict so much; to be able to pull off an inner conflict (between a couple) is tough. We see how Darcy and Tom have an argument in the bunker in the film’s second half about Tom’s “self-sabotage” and insecurities and Darcy’s inhibitions about the wedding. It is only natural to feel the way they both feel: Tom wants to make everything perfect for Darcy, and Darcy just wants Tom to slow down and be there by her side. As fate would have it, Tom’s wish to make everything perfect goes down the drain when a bunch of Balinese pirates takes over the resort. With everyone else hostage, the couple will have to keep aside their personal apprehensions and work together to figure out a way to help their loved ones.
As much as we would have loved to see how they work out their misunderstandings, all that we get is them opening up about the lies they told in the past to keep each other happy (the bunker scene). This is good in a way as they are able to vent out and thus be clear to one another. Being angry at each other is better than being in the dark. Talking things out, even at the cost of a heated argument, does have benefits because, at the end of it, it isn’t about apologizing but accepting the faults and promising to do better. This is what Tom and Darcy do. The rest follows. Surprisingly, we also see how open they are with each other. In other words, they are close enough not to hold back from each other. Their conversations in any situation show how effective they are as a couple in their own bizarre manner. While Jennifer and Josh try to establish this chemistry and partly manage to do so, we accept it for the sake of the film.
‘Shotgun Wedding’ Ending Explained – Do Darcy And Tom Finally Get Married?
Towards the end, it is revealed that the pirates were working hand-in-hand with Darcy’s ex-boyfriend Sean, who had a falling-out with Darcy’s father, Robert. Sean and Robert’s present wife, Harriet, were in on it together from the beginning. They wanted to go after Robert’s money and reached out to the pirates to execute the plan. In the end, Sean and Harriet die in a helicopter crash, the pirates are arrested by the army, and Darcy and Tom finally get married.
“Shotgun Wedding” leaves us all wanting more. There is haphazard action and almost no comedy, and the whole film feels incomplete in the way it pulls off the story. Yes, we do get to see a couple work out their differences, which is the romantic part of the film but only a little portion. Comedy is almost completely missing from the film; we just have characters to fill the screen space. Even Jennifer Coolidge’s Carol (Tom’s mother) is used more like a prop than a character. Moreover, an action comedy need not necessarily involve the lead characters being former special agents or anything like that but keeping in mind the basics of the genre; it is effective to hand them guns once in a while. If not, the film will have to include heavy action in order to compensate. This film does neither and thus fails to achieve its intended action-comedy status. Overall, “Shotgun Wedding” is a letdown for having brought together two very impressive actors but not being able to use them to their full potential. Furthermore, it is only due to them that we sit through the film and nothing else, if at all.
“Shotgun Wedding” is a 2023 romantic action comedy directed by Jason Moore. It is available on Amazon Prime Video.
