Destination Wedding is a 2018 comedy about two miserable and unpleasant wedding guests, who develop a mutual affection despite themselves.
There was a time when Keanu Reeves wasn’t just punching everyone on-screen and was in fact a rather funny guy. He turned the surfer dude mentality into a meme before memes were really even a thing and while many might take potshots at his low-key minimalist approach, back then, it was good stuff. In writer/director Victor Levin‘s newest comedy Destination Wedding, Reeves might not have that earlier naiveté orbiting his comedic deliver but his years of recent work as a rogue-ish action hero kind of it gives a fresh edge. Pair that with the manic presence of Winona Ryder and you get a surprisingly funny little film that surely won’t be for everyone, but serves up a delicious bit of cynicism for those whose tastes swing in that direction.
Heading to a destination wedding, Frank (Reeves) meets Lindsay (Ryder) while standing in line to board. It is not a meet cute, the two grim and dark, repelling like oil and water. The good news is (sarcasm), they’re going to the same place, Paso Robles, California for the nuptials of a lovely bride (Dj Dallenbach) and her groom (Ted Dubost), an ex-boyfriend of Lindsay’s and distant half-brother to Frank. Placed in the peripheral from the start, and forced into a series of activities they’d rather not take part in, the two connect, from the corners bashing everything about the weekend. Acerbic witticisms seems to be the secret ingredient though and it’s not long before they realize they are actually bonding, much to their surprise, avoiding the obvious as they explore the open wine country.
If anything, kudos goes to Levin’s smart and admittedly risky approach, the film basically a stage play on the move, the only people with speaking parts in the entire film being Reeves and Ryder. It’s clever and dynamic, even in its intimacy and works because these two actors are not at all the expected modern romance archetypes. Sure, Reeves tried on a few in the genre a while back, co-starring, for example, with screen sparkle Sandra Bullock, but those were plasticine filler. By avoiding the smarmy tropes of dramatic romance and giving him a chance to lean hard into his stiff, stoic acting style, he seems to have more room to give Frank presence. Likewise with Ryder, who has always been a bit unhinged, finding the unconventional love story a solid fit. There are some genuinely funny moments here that work because we know these actors oh so very well.
Further credit goes to Levin for serving up plenty of terrific opportunities for them to wallow in, consistently taking moments that harken to more traditional rom-com shenanigans and giving them a twist. It’s sort of a revelation how well the spectrum is played through, including an encounter with a mountain lion that would otherwise seem absurd, but in the deft hands of Reeves and Ryder, inspires laughs. How can two so unlikable people be so, well, darned likable?
Absolutely, this is a movie that’s going to put people off, mostly because it sort of tries to, its non-stop bullet train of sardonic dialogue and insistence in being anything but what the genre typically demands. However, I think most will find this pretty sharp. It’s cynical but never mean and both Ryder and Reeves completely make it work. Highly recommended.