The Wedding Ringer

The Wedding Ringer casts Josh Gad as Doug Harris, a successful (yet friendless) businessman who hires Kevin Hart’s Jimmy Callahan to act as his best man during his upcoming nuptials to Kaley Cuoco’s Gretchen – with complications ensuing as it becomes clear that Doug requires a whole crew of groomsmen as well. It’s a decent premise that’s employed to predictably erratic effect by Jeremy Garelick, as the first-time filmmaker admittedly does a nice job of establishing the various characters and eliciting charismatic work from his various actors – with Hart’s surprisingly restrained performance here certainly standing as an ongoing highlight within the proceedings. (Gad and Hart’s relatively low-key work stands in sharp contract to the eye-rollingly over-the-top efforts of an exceedingly broad supporting cast.) And while the picture does contain its share of admittedly laugh-out-loud funny moments, The Wedding Ringer has, by and large, been suffused with comedic set pieces that simply don’t work and essentially cultivate a progressively uninvolving atmosphere – with the ineffective, egregiously frantic conclusion ensuring that the whole thing ends on a decidedly underwhelming note. (This is despite a fun, last-minute Lost reference, courtesy of costar Jorge Garcia.)

** out of ****