On April 17, the small town of West, Texas, was forever altered when a fertilizer plant exploded, killing more than a dozen and injuring so many more. Not surprisingly, however, through this tragedy we witnessed the powerful way in which a community — a country, really — unites to support those in need through emergency services, volunteer work and financial help.
Just 11 days after the tragedy, the citizens of Dallas descended on Annette Strauss Square to support their neighbors to the south at the Texans for West benefit concert. Hundreds of music enthusiasts sprawled out on the lawn at the AT&T Performing Arts Center to catch Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights, Toadies lead singer Vaden Todd Lewis, The O's, Somebody's Darling and Goodnight Ned — all of whom donated their time.
Credit goes to speedy event planners Matt Tobin, of Goodfriend Beer Garden & Burger House; Gavin Mulloy, of Granada Theater; Becki Howard,of AT&T Performing Arts Center; and major cash sponsor Regions Bank. The organizers also partnered with Communities Foundation of Texas (CFT) to create the Texans for West Fund. Concert proceeds will be deposited with CFT, which will distribute the money among nonprofits whose missions are to provide basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter and counseling services for those affected by the West disaster.
Spotted in the crowd of charitable concertgoers: Maxwell Smith, Nathan Yates, Katy Simmons, Sarah Hipp, Jeff Fryman, Billy Thomas, Zane Aveton, Rani Monson, Stephanie Bradshaw, Brandi Farris and Oliver Smith.
Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon in You're Cordially Invited
There’s something about weddings that comedy filmmakers love. From Four Weddings and a Funeral to The Wedding Singer to Wedding Crashers to Bridesmaids and beyond, the act of two people getting married provides plenty of opportunities for conflict, mixups, and mayhem on which comedies often thrive.
So the premise of You’re Cordially Invited, in which two weddings at a small island venue are accidentally booked on the same weekend, would seem to be rife with funny situations. Jim (Will Ferrell) is the single dad of Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan), while Margot (Reese Witherspoon) is the high-powered sister of Neve (Meredith Hagner). Both have a connection to the Palmetto Hotel, and both think they have secured the first Saturday in June for the wedding of their family members.
The confusion over finding out the venue has been double-booked is initially met with reason and compromise. But as the two wedding parties butt heads jockeying for position among the island’s limited resources, tempers start to flare, and both Jim and Margot start to lean toward sabotage. What’s supposed to be the happiest day of their lives for the brides turns into a nightmare for both as their loved ones try to find ways to get back at one another.
Written and directed by Nicholas Stoller (Neighbors, Bros), the film is heavily dependent on the talents of its two stars. The scenes in which Ferrell and Witherspoon face off are the most enjoyable, as each uses skills they’ve learned over their long careers to elevate the film. Unfortunately, Stoller seemed to put most of his effort into their scenes, as anything involving their characters’ friends and families falls flat.
Stoller actually sets up the various quirks and tensions between the two groups well, but it's the execution of the subsequent scenes that is lacking. Whether it’s the fault of the editing team or Stoller himself, the pacing of the film is way off. Some scenes are cut short before they reach a good resolution, and others are extended well past the point of being funny.
The film mostly suffers from giving too much in certain situations and not enough in others. Jenni has a mostly anonymous group of female friends, portrayed by actors who all seem to have been given instructions to act over the top at all times, a trait that is more annoying than amusing. On the other hand, the craziness that the film seems to promise with its central premise never materializes. The acts of sabotage by Jim and Margot are so tame that they can’t even be called entertaining, much less hilarious.
The performances in the film face diminishing returns the further you go down the cast list. Both Ferrell and Witherspoon are talented enough to get by on charm alone, and even if these are far from their best roles, it’s still fun to see them. Viswanathan and Hagner are both fine, but the rest of the cast is uniformly uninteresting and occasionally off-putting.
You’re Cordially Invited is a great example of past results not equaling future success. Given the good films that Ferrell, Witherspoon, and Stoller have made in the past, it should have been relatively easy for them to make a pleasant if forgettable wedding movie. Instead, it’s a mostly unfunny affair with only a few moments that rise to their talents.
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You're Cordially Invited is now streaming on Prime Video.
