Shotgun Wedding Is Absolutely Ridiculous, Which Is Why I Loved It

Jennifer Lopez’s latest wedding movie (there are quite a number of them now) has hit streaming services, and, unsurprisingly, it has been met with a fairly lukewarm reception. On Rotten Tomatoes, Shotgun Wedding currently sits at an unimpressive 47 per cent, with the critic consensus stating “viewers can safely RSVP no without regrets”. But I’m here to tell you I think you should give it a shot anyway.

In Shotgun Wedding, Jennifer Lopez’s Darcy and Josh Duhamel’s Tom have brought their loved ones together in the Philippines for their wedding, which is sidetracked by Tom’s groomzilla tendencies, overbearing family members and a hostage situation with pirates — of course.

The film is silly. There are very few moments you can take seriously, and honestly, I didn’t even find Lopez and Duhamel’s chemistry to be all that believable. But I didn’t care. The ridiculous storyline, which involves a bride-to-Rambo-type transformation for Lopez and more grenades than I’ve ever seen in a wedding movie before, doesn’t exactly feel like it’s trying to be taken seriously. So, nothing is lost if you find the film to be sort of stupid.

Also, the cast lineup is pretty excellent. The combination of Lenny Kravitz as Darcy’s irritating ex, Sean, Jennifer Coolidge as Tom’s mother, Carol, and D’Arcy Carden as Darcy’s father’s woo-woo girlfriend was more unexpected and entertaining than I ever could have imagined.

Sonia Braga and Cheech Marin also appear as Darcy’s parents in the film.

If you enjoyed watching Coolidge handle a gun in The White Lotus Season 2, you’ll froth off seeing her go off with a machine gun while announcing, “nobody fucks with my family”. In fact, she has a bunch of one-liners that had me giggling throughout. Like when, on seeing JLo’s Darcy in her underwear, she utters, “can I just ask, is that genetics or is it like, pilates?” Or when she explains that their family cake knife brings good luck, “…except for uncle Greg, who ended up decapitated on that forklift – but that’s not the knife’s fault!”

It’s not exactly breaking the mould, this kind of comedy, but it’s fun. And if you go into Shotgun Wedding with that in mind, you’ll probably be in for a good time.

Shotgun Wedding – The verdict

Pros: Easy to watch. Will give you a few laughs (JLo is funny. Coolidge is funnier). A refreshing take on the done-to-death wedding rom-com movie structure, for JLo in particular.

Cons: In parts, it feels like everyone is working really hard to get the story to land. It doesn’t always land. Chemistry is lacking between the leads.

Watch it if you like: Monster-in-Law, The Hangover

Shotgun Wedding is streaming on Prime Video as of January 27.