A double-booking at an island retreat results in chaos for two wedding parties in You’re Cordially Invited, which dropped on Prime Video with little fanfare this past weekend. That’s a shame: this laugh-out-loud comedy from director Nicholas Stoller (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Get Him to the Greek) may not be another Wedding Crashers, but it’s a lot more fun than unsuspecting streaming viewers tuning in cold might be anticipating.
You’re Cordially Invited stars Will Ferrell as Jim, a doting Atlanta-area father who gets a shock when his college-age daughter Jenni (Drive-Away Dolls‘ Geraldine Viswanathan) announces that she’s engaged to a boyfriend (Stony Blyden) dad barely knows. Jenni wants to get married at a small inn on Georgia’s Palmetto Island— the same location that Jim and his deceased wife were hitched—and dad books the wedding a year in advance.
Only problem: the elderly innkeeper who took Jim’s call croaks before she can find a working pen to book the date in the family guestbook.
Hotshot TV executive Margot (Reese Witherspoon), meanwhile, is tasked with planning the wedding between sister Neve (Meredith Hagner) and beau Dixon (Jimmy Tatro). Margot books the inn on the island that she and Neve stayed each summer with her grandmother—on the same weekend that Jim thinks he has reserved for his daughter.
The two wedding parties improbably congregate on the island on the same weekend—Jenni’s wedding planner Heather (Keyla Monterroso Mejia) failed to confirm with the venue—and innkeeper Leslie (30 Rock‘s Jack McBrayer) soon uncovers what has transpired. But while the locale can only accommodate one party, they agree to share the island as best they can.
The template for You’re Cordially Invited is established early on, and like director Stoller’s Neighbors films, tensions soon escalate as the frat party-like atmosphere of Jenni’s wedding starts to intrude on the refined southern elegance of Neve’s ceremony. And things really turn south after Jim overhears some unkind words from Margot, and the two begin to actively plot to sabotage each other’s wedding.
Unlike those Neighbors movies, You’re Cordially Invited never delves into offensive grossout territory, though climactic scenes involving an alligator threaten to come close. The film largely keeps the humor to a character level, and it works thanks to a terrific supporting cast that also includes Celia Weston as Neve and Margot’s mother, and Rory Scovel and Leanne Morgan as their siblings.
You’re Cordially Invited is more lowbrow than the typical Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy, but the actress is fully up to the task here as she contrasts with Ferrell’s over-the-top energy. It’s a lot of fun seeing her darker side—Margot has an acidic tongue and can be downright mean at times—and recalls one of Witherspoon’s most iconic roles, Election‘s Tracey Flick.
Ferrell, meanwhile, is perfect as the manic dad who will do anything to protect his daughter. No one else in the cast can match his energy (though Monterroso Mejia, who stole her scenes in Curb Your Enthusiasm, comes close), which is offset by his deadpan delivery: a single line of work-related exposition is one of the funniest in the film. We have little interest in seeing his character develop a romantic relationship with Witherspoon’s Margot, but You’re Cordially Invited never takes things too far… though a climactic smooch is undeniably awkward.
Some of the side bits here—like the TV show that Margot produces, an Is It Cake? spoof titled Is It Dead?—are uproarious, though not every gag lands; cameos from Nick Jonas and Peyton Manning elicit more of a cringe. Still, the comedy is consistent enough to produce at least a chuckle or two every few minutes, which is enough to keep us regularly entertained.
A good comedy is a rare find these days, and the modest release of You’re Cordially Invited on Prime Video doesn’t inspire confidence. But this one hits all the right notes, and streaming viewers who happen to stumble across it are in for a pleasant surprise.
