Kristin Scott Thomas directs a frothy family dramedy with star power, sentiment and just enough dysfunction to keep it mildly interesting
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
The perfectly harmless, occasionally entertaining trifle “My Mother’s Wedding” (formerly “North Star”) arrives in Boston theaters just in time for the August lull. You’ve heard of “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” the 1994 comedy that made Hugh Grant a household name and gave a lift to Kristin Scott Thomas, who delivered delicious hauteur as one of the wedding and funeral attendees and whose previous credit of note was opposite Prince in “Under the Cherry Moon” (1986).
Well, Thomas is one of the stars of “My Mother’s Wedding” (she’s the mother). She also co-wrote the script and directed the film, which was completed in 2023 and is loosely based on the true story of her father and stepfather, who were both pilots in the Royal Navy and both lost their lives in service.
“My Mother’s Wedding” is the story of an upcoming wedding of Diana Munson, formerly Frost, to a likable, hirsute and musical Geoffrey Loveglove (James Fleet, “Four Weddings and a Funeral”). In attendance are Diana’s three adult daughters, two from her first marriage, one from her second. All the daughters have children. The beautiful Victoria (a funny Sienna Miller) is an actress of a certain repute on tour publicizing her latest effort “The Dame of Darkness 4” (Or is it IV?). Her sister Katherine (Scarlett Johansson, sporting a decent Brit accent) is Captain of the Royal Navy’s HMS Prince of Wales, an aircraft carrier, no less. The youngest sister, a nurse and mother named Georgina (a delightfully daft Emily Beecham), suspects her husband Jeremy (Joshua McGuire) of being unfaithful and has hired a detective named Steve (an amusing Samson Kayo) to get the goods on him. In an odd stylistic touch, Katherine’s childhood memories, which have come back to haunt her, are rendered as black-and-white, line-drawn animation. Typical of the film, these memories seem to lead us to some great (or awful) revelation. But in fact, they turn out to be not so earth-shattering after all.
The same can be said of “My Mother’s Wedding.” But, surely, nearing the end of summer with the box-office heavy-hitters still swinging it out in the theaters, Boston filmgoers might be willing to pay to see these actors in a film with the tantalizing word “wedding” in the title, right?
Can we forgive a scene in which the three sisters sing along to Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets” in their mother’s kitchen? Will writer-director Nancy Meyers (“Father of the Bride,” etc.) be green with envy? One of the sisters refers to Geoff as “his grand fromage.” Another refers to their mother as “the old bag.” The sisters have new and longstanding issues with one another, their partners and their children. But Chekhov this is not. A slightly sodden Geoff opens the wrong door on the eve of his wedding and gets an eyeful of Victoria’s bare breasts. “People pay to see this, you know,” she snarks.
It’s not “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” exactly. It’s “Three Sisters at a Wedding,” not quite as catchy. Well, not everyone can be Richard Curtis (“Love Actually”). Thomas delivers a speech at the end, chastening her daughters for “being in love with their daddies.” Premature death made them “demigods.” It all ends with uniforms, pomp and ceremony, and possibly the world’s biggest prop. I have to say I was impressed that Thomas pulled it off. The surprise is almost ruined by a new, over-the-top version of Carly Simon’s “Coming Around Again,” which was originally composed for Nora Ephron’s “Heartburn” (1986), over the end credits.
‘My Mother’s Wedding’
Rating: R for language, some sexual material and brief nudity.
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham, Kristen Scott Thomas
Director: Kristin Scott Thomas
Writers: Thomas and John Micklethwaite
Running time: 1 hour, 35 minutes
Where to watch: In theaters
Grade: B
Boston Movie News 