Genres

Visitors Review

triple8 2012-05-20 05:16:27

Average comedy that had both good and bad moments.

Oh I remember this movie-A friend and I had been talking about comedies, reminiscing really and she reminded me about this one. I'm sort ofweird with comedies-meaning I don't always like what the masses like-Iseem to remember liking this(somewhat) but being all grown up now Idoubt my reaction were I to view it would be as fond now.There are many movies that stay timeless and never get old. In the caseof Betsy's wedding once you see it, it does leave you with a certainsweetness afterwards. The movie had some sweet things to say althoughthey've been done before. The ending, though, was REALLY cute. This isnot a movie that I would say,(as many reviewers on here do)is awful.Rather I would call it a somewhat cute comedy that gets you through arainy night.

jotix100 2012-05-19 19:26:13

A wedding in a leaking tent

Nothing could bring more rivalry between parents and would be in-lawsas a wedding. The young couple in this story has more common sense thantheir elders. They just want a small affair, but then, the parents getinvolved blowing the whole thing out of proportion. What a terriblewaste these things are. After all, most of them would end up indivorce.Alan Alda has written, directed and is one of the stars of "Betsy'sWedding", a film about two different families, one struggling, and theother one rich, whose children are going to marry. The comedy is a bitdated. What starts as a small wedding ends up as an elaboratecelebration in a tent in the middle of a rain storm. There are a fewlaughs in the picture.Best of the whole thing are Ally Sheedy and Anthony LaPaglia who aresupposed to be secondary characters. The large cast does what it canwith the material they have to play. Alan Alda, Madeline Kahn, MollyRingwald, Dylan Walsh, Joe Pesci, and Catherine O'Hara are seen as thefamily members.

2012-05-16 22:44:48

UNDERRATED COMEDY

Loved it, and have for a long time. For some reason most people either haven't watched it, or didn't get it. Obviously from the reviews here you can see I am not alone in my rating. Joe Pesci is HILARIOUS, and the movie is filled with other great characters and funny moments. Just keeps you interested with witty dialogue and universal life experiences. Like 29TH STREET this is another underrated movie, which should after watching it cacth your attention if you like romantic comedies, like WHEN HARRY MET SALLY etc. Enjoy...

2012-05-16 02:23:04

HAT'S OFF FOR BETSY'S WEDDING

I SIMPLY LOVE THIS MOVIE. ANYTIME I FEEL LOW AND NEED A BOOST , THIS IS THE FEEL GOOD FILM I REACH FOR. IT IS ALSO FUNNY SEEING SAMUEL L JACKSON, BEFORE HE BECAME "BIG" AS A GUY IN THE GARAGE SCENE ( PRICELESS )THERE ISN'T ONE THING I DON'T LOVE ABOUT THIS FILM. I HAVE ATLEAST, FOUR COPIES OF THIS FILM, I'M NOT EVER GOING TOO BE WITHOUT "BETSY'S WEDDING "

2012-05-16 02:40:50

Wonderful, Warm and Funny!

I love this movie. It's so funny and warm. Stevie D is hilarious, and of course Alan Alda is stupendous. If it was available to purchase, I'd own it!

2012-05-15 17:37:20

Found it in a Dollar General

Bought it without ever seeing it. Found it in a back corner of a Dollar General. I loved this movie. Great ending. I want to marry Stevie D and make my own dress. What a find.

jceo 2012-05-15 05:22:48

I like this movie a lot

OK..OK..this may not be the best movie ever made but it is charming,sweet, funny, warm hearted and just makes you feel good to be a part ofBetsy's wedding. The cast is wonderful. Alan Alda as usual is terrificas Eddie Hopper (Betsy's Dad), Joe Pesci and Catherine O'Hara arewonderful as a sparring couple, Madeline Kahn adds real warmth to hercharacter as Lola (Betsy's Mum), Molly Ringwald is OK as Betsy (heroutfits are pretty dismal and she seems to have that perpetual poutthat can be annoying), Ally Sheedy also does an OK job as Connie(Betsy's cop sister) but her New York accent(I think that's what itwas)was laid on a bit thick. For me Anthony LaPaglia's love sickgangster Stevie Dee was the highlight of the film. La Paglia ishilarious and he steals every scene that he's in...the chemistrybetween him and Ally Sheedy's Connie is great and the scenes they shareare real gems. The final scenes of the wedding with the tornmarquee,rain soaked guests and drenched bride and groom are verysweet.All in all a good "chick flick" to watch on a lazy Sundayafternoon.

2012-05-14 07:12:31

I give this flick five stars

I saw it in the theater when it first came out. I only watched about a quarter of the movie though. I made out wiht my girlfriend the rest of the time, and we really got fresh. Anyway, I can't tell you anything about the movie except that Molly Ringwald is in it and I had a great time when I went to see it!

pwynne-3 2012-05-10 02:39:59

A bit of fun

In a world where brides turn into bridezilla when things don't goexactly as they planned, it's refreshing to see a film about someonewho can role with the punches and not take the whole thing tooseriously. It's the marriage, not the wedding, that needs people's bestefforts. Anthony LaPaglia did a great job, especially when he told hisuncle he was going to apply to the police acadamy. It sparked myinterest in his other accomplishments and I've be watching for him eversince. Loved the contrasts, even if they were a little exaggerated.Alda and Kahn played great off each other. My favorite lines. Alda: Iwanted to give you a wedding you'd never forget. Ringwold (whilemunching on a piece of pizza) Hmm. I don't think I'll ever forget this.Great family dynamics. An imaginative romp.

J. Wellington Peevis 2012-05-09 13:49:23

I'd Rather Have Seen the Divorce

One of the lamer wedding movies you'll see. Smacks too too much of itstimeperiod so it was out of date before it hit the theaters. The ethnicstereotypes are like a Henny Youngman joke, except they just aint in theleast bit funny here. Molly Ringwald, well what else needs to be said.Giveyou a clue to the silliness, she destroys a $10,000 wedding dress,because"It just won't be me" makes it into this rag, with straps and puts on atophat, and everyone smiles cutely at her moxy, rather than ringwalding herneck. Its a helluva a cast too, check out how heavy Ally Sheedy is.Wheeeew!

2012-05-05 23:46:53

Very funny. Alda comes off as the typical dad.

I've always been a fan of Alan Alda's work. This movie is one of his best. When he's eating dinner with the mafia gang and the bodyguard starts to shoot, I laughed to bust a rib. Alan Alda sure hasn't lost his touch.

Boyo-2 2012-05-05 01:19:41

Sheedy and LaPaglia steal the movie

A movie like this is only as good as the ensemble in it, and in this caseall the actors masterfully create characters that we immediately identifywith or sympathize with. Sometimes we laugh with them, too, butunfortunately, not as much as one would hope.Out of the large cast, Ally Sheedy and Anthony LaPaglia shine above theother actors and are memorable. Also Catherine O'Hara is one of thosepeople who makes me laugh just to look at her. If it were up to me, she'sbein EVERYTHING.

2012-05-01 04:31:41

One of 1990's most popular films

In Alan Alda's "Betsy's Wedding",he is Eddie Hopper,a construction foreman and architect. His daughter Betsy(Molly Ringwald) and her boyfriend Jake Lovell(Dylan Walsh) announce their engagement at a family gathering. Betsy's sister Connie(Ally Sheedy) is happy herself but jealously upset because she can't find herself a man. The late Madeline Kahn is Lola,Eddie's wife. At the gathering Lola's sister Gloria Henner(Catherine O'Hara) tells her she plans to get even with her husband Oscar(Oscar winner Joe Pesci) for all his inept schemes. Gloria says "Someday,when I have my nice little nestegg,I can take a walk and he can go f--- himself." Anthony LaPaglia is Stevie Dee,a guy who would later in the film become Connie's boyfriend. Stevie Dee's uncle Georgie(Burt Young) is a business associate of Oscar's. There's once scene where when Betsy and Jake meet with the man performing their wedding ceremony,the Dixie Cups' CHAPEL OF LOVE is played. They want to be pronounced "husband and wife" instead of "man and wife" and they have "obey" omitted from "love,honor and obey". The late Julie Bovasso plays Rose,Eddie's mother and Joey Bishop is Eddie's deceased father. The father,as a ghost,is seen and heard only by Eddie. The wedding was somewhat disasterous. It took place in a rented tent on a rainy evening. The tent was made of cheap,not-too-strong materials so a hole in the roof where the rain fell into increased to the point where it caved in. After a heated argument between Gloria and Oscar at the reception also in the tent,Gloria pulls a loose thread causing the growing hole and the dowse of fallen rain. So Connie and Stevie Dee can be together more often,Stevie Dee applies to the police academy,since Connie's a cop. Unbelievably,the wedding dinner was pizza! By the way,Oscar planned to divorce Gloria and become romantically involved with his secretary,who also attended Betsy's and Jake's wedding. That was one of the things that led to the argument. The wedding ceremony was performed in the Jewish style. Jake stepped on a wine glass wrapped in a cloth napkin. This film was Alan Alda's most successful and not a minor hit like "A New Life",another one of his personally scripted films.

tedg 2012-04-30 14:16:57

Pillow Fight

This is a significant failure for interesting reasons.Situations can be funny. Worlds can be funny. People can be too, butnot all at the same time.Alda comes from a tradition where people are funny. Situations arethere, and worlds too, but only so that funny people can be so.This is his script, and the whole idea is to fill the screen withpeople that he thinks are amusing. His style is soft caricatures sothat's what we have here: soft Jewish mother, soft gangster, soft,soft, soft. Something like this formula works for MASH because thebrand in such TeeVee shows is the accrued recognition without theedges. But this is long form film, not a skit. Edges are required. Even thegangster shootout is padded with charm. In such a situation, we seek out the most interesting character. Sincethere are none as characters, the game is to find the actor playing acharacter that we find appealing. Fortunately that is easy, since eachactor is apparent as an actor.The one that is the focus for me this time and when I saw it as new, isAnthony LaPaglia as the genteel second generation gangster. He fallsfor Ally Sheedy, here in red hair. The expected center was to have been Betsy, played by Molly Ringwald.Her character is given one trait only, but that's all any is allowed.She is a wacky dress designer. The dresses aren't amusing, and most ofthem not that odd. This film, I think, is the turning point in hercareer, where we saw that she wasn't charming in the way we had seenearlier. I'm sure that is what she wanted, but there's nothing tosubstitute for how she was presented earlier.Its all the more striking because her sister is played by Ally Sheedy.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do withthis part of your life.

mattymatt4ever 2012-04-27 09:34:10

Good-hearted, well-intentioned comedy with realistic characters...but it's not that funny

I have to admire Alan Alda for writing a film that contains characters wecan actually relate to. Characters who seem like normal, everyday peopleand not farcical Hollywood creations. The problem? The film hardly goesanywhere. And I only got a few laughs. I'm not asking for "The Naked Gun." I'm not asking for a new gag every two minutes. But this film just didn'thave enough humor to classify itself as a comedy. It needed an extra doseof energy, and I feel Alda should've stayed in front of the camera. Becausehis direction is flat, and the whole movie just seems like one big homevideo. Though the movie is only a little over ninety minutes, I felt somescenes belonged on the cutting room floor. The cast is superb and first-rate, and they could've shined with a funnierscript. Joe Pesci is the best of a lot, in a role quite different from hisusual wise-cracking, tough-guy-from-Brooklyn act. Other talents areCatherine O'Hara, Anthony LaPaglia, the late Madeline Kahn and MollyRingwald. My Dad used to say, whenever he would watch a bad comedy, "I guess they callit a comedy, since there's no tragedy in it." That's how I can classify"Betsy's Wedding." No tragedy, but the laughs are scarce. P.S.: Look fast for Samuel L. Jackson as a taxi dispatcher. My score: 5 (out of 10)

fredfall 2012-04-26 23:07:06

Not so great

Alan Alda has worked with Woody Allen on several occasions, and it struckmewatching this movie that he was trying for a Woody-ish ensemble piece.But,despite a fine cast, this is no Crimes and Misdemeanors.The various plot strands are not woven together sufficiently well; some ofthe characters can be almost forgotten about during lengthy periodsoff-screen, including the eponymous Betsy. Ally Sheedy and Antony LaPagliaprovide the film's brightest moments with their unlikely romance (althoughnot so unlikely in the movies, of course!).

2012-04-26 11:54:28

Good job.

This review is from: Betsy's Wedding (DVD) Seems like a lot of trouble to go through to leave a comment for a 50 cent item. I suggest a simple "good job" should be enough.

2012-04-26 03:47:48

Sensational

This review is from: Betsy's Wedding (DVD) Alan Alda outdoes himself in this 80's comedy. It's like we have a part of his hawkeye personallity back from MASH in this comedy. And the leading lady outdoes herself in a more adult persona than her earlier "preety in pink" "the breakfast club" and "16 candels".

2012-04-23 18:00:40

A suger-coated, light-hearted New York set movie ...fascinating

Betsy's Wedding (1990) is a family-entertainment movie, thatcomes close to a TV-style picture, from suger-coating each andevery scene, from start to finish, a bit much, over 90 minutes ormore. This is picture to see, mainly for completists in the genreof mob pictures who particularly enjoy comedy combined in it,seeing that Joe Pesci reaches deep inside himself to deliver acredible, no-nonsense character. also known as the straight-man,juxtaposed with Alan Alda, who plays the more comedic, mature,responsible, dreamer and friendly kind of guy, incredibly. Forthose who pull a blank seeing Anthony LaPaglia, yes, the actoris the brother of Jonathan LaPaglia who delivered a wonderfulperformance in "UNDER HELLGATE BRIDGE " some years ago.The strong points of this picture, is the romantic comedy aspect,as its lays out what parents and youths have to deal with, whendifferent cultures combine in a marriage, involving in theprocess, economic, and class differences, as well. A nice,wholesome film, most would suggest. For fans of Joe Pesci, justseeing the actor being a straight, no-nonsense dude is worth theprice of admission, as compared to other works that are slapstickstyle, of course.

soranno 2012-04-23 01:19:13

This film is highlighted by its great all star cast

Alan Alda wrote, directed and stars in this tale in which he portrays afather who wants the best wedding reception and party possible for hissoonto be wed daughter, Betsy (Molly Ringwald). He's even willing to go so faras to let the wedding be financed by the mob. Fairly amusing and plenty ofbig stars in small or costarring parts help to propel it.