Against the odds, the expectations and the run of play, here is a romcom starring Jennifer Lopez and it’s … well, it’s pretty good: enjoyably goofy and sparkily written. Lopez plays Darcy, a woman who agrees to a giant wedding party on a luxury Philippine island holiday resort which her insecure fiance Tom has laid on for her. He’s a failing baseball star, defensive about being recently dropped from the team and likably played by Josh Duhamel. (Ryan Reynolds is one of the executive producers and may possibly have had his eye on the role.)
There are some nice gags here, and smart twists from screenwriter Mark Hammer, and some funny supporting turns. Jennifer Coolidge comes close to stealing the whole thing as Darcy’s eccentric future mother-in-law Carol, Darcy’s divorced parents Robert and Renata are played by stoner-comedy veteran Cheech Marin and the distinguished Brazilian star Sonia Braga (from Kleber Mendonça Filho’s arthouse hit Aquarius) who never treats this material with anything other than absolute seriousness. Above all there is Darcy’s creepy alpha male, hardbodied and sensitive overachiever ex-boyfriend Sean, amusingly played by Lenny Kravitz, who shows up unannounced at the wedding and ignites a firestorm of miserable jealousy in poor Tom’s heart.
But just when they are about to break up, right before the beachfront ceremony itself, a terrifying group of pirates arrive on a speedboat with guns and grenades, intent on taking everyone hostage and demanding a multimillion-dollar ransom from wealthy Robert. But Tom and Darcy have been able to hide: only they can save the day and save their marriage. It may be a bit corny, but Hammer keeps the funny lines coming and it has some pep that George Clooney and Julia Roberts’ recent romcom effort Ticket to Ride didn’t.
• Shotgun Wedding is released on 27 January on Prime Video.
