'Family Wedding' invites all racial clichés
Lucia Ramirez has a confession for her conservative, Mexican-American father, Miguel.
She dropped out of law school and intends to marry a black medical student, then go with him to Laos where he'll work for Doctors Without Borders.
"Laos?" Miguel replies. "What Laos? Laos Angeles? Laos Vega?"
Miguel isn't a stupid character. He's a savvy businessman who runs a garage and towing company, and refurbishes old cars with the craftsmanship of a skilled artist.
But in Rick Famuyiwa's cliché-crammed, IQ-challenged rom-com "Our Family Wedding," Miguel inexplicably reverts to a dumb and dopey caricature when faced with the prospect of his daughter's marriage to a black man.
He's not the only one who suddenly goes silly.
Miguel (Carlos Mencia) and the groom's dad, radio DJ Brad Boyd (Forest Whitaker), both devolve into squabbling, egocentric children who sling more ethnic insults than Don Imus.
Brad starts a sentence with, "When you go black ..." and Miguel quickly chimes in, "Your credit goes bad!"
Hardee-har-har.
Miguel and Brad relish childish behavior so much, they make a running game out of who can take longer to sit down in a chair.
Oh, the suspense!
Brad and Miguel first meet on the street when a distressed Brad tries to stop Miguel from towing his luxury car out of a no-parking zone.
After that, it's all love at first fight.
"Our Family Wedding" features TV's "Ugly Betty" star (and Northwestern University cherub) America Ferrera as Lucia, and she imbues her woefully underwritten, lackluster Latina with a modicum of charisma.
Lance Gross plays her beau Marcus, a milque-toasted guy who does little more than act patient and noble while his father and future dad-in-law behave like school boys engaged in a pushing contest.
That becomes a tired and grating routine rather quickly. Almost as quick as the goat that escapes during the reception and demolishes every food tray and table in sight. At least the characters on-screen howled with laughter.
Granted, goofy behavior is expected in a comedy. But shouldn't it be, uh, funny?
Diana Maria Riva supplies a tacked-on subplot as Miguel's long-suffering wife Sonia, worried that she has lost her feminine appeal.
"When did I stop being a woman?" she asks.
Regina King offers another thankless subplot as the divorced Brad's longtime attorney, who inexplicably has feelings for the flagrant womanizer.
The saving grace of "Our Family Wedding" is Anjelah Johnson, who spits sarcasm and attitude as Lucia's little sister Isabella, a garage mechanic and the single plug in Famuyiwa's engine that manages to spark.
"Our Family Wedding"Rating: #9733; #189;Starring: America Ferrera, Lance Gross, Forest Whitaker, Regina King, Carlos Mencia Directed by: Rick FamuyiwaOther: A Fox Searchlight release. Rated PG-13 for language, sexual situations. 101 minutes