INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film You’re Cordially Invited. Please note that this is just one of the many movies I will have watched each year, and my initial grade for this film may change over time, for better or worse. To stay up to date on my thoughts about other movies and any potential changes in my opinion on this one, follow me on Letterboxd.
If you enjoy these reviews, I’d greatly appreciate it if you could share this newsletter with family and friends who might love receiving film reviews, classic movie lists, and Oscars projections straight to their inbox.
PLOT
Via Letterboxd: When two weddings are accidentally booked on the same day at the same venue, each bridal party is challenged with preserving their family’s special moment.
REVIEW
I have to give it to you straight, there’s a part of me that feels like I should slap a C-tier rating on You’re Cordially Invited, the latest Prime Video original. If I were the kind of film critic who approached every movie through what I believed to be an "objective" lens, that’s exactly what I’d do.
The pacing? Uneven. The comedy? Not exactly crafted to make critics swoon. But here’s the thing, I don’t review movies like that. My grading scale has always leaned hard toward my own overall subjective enjoyment, and no matter how much I try to rationalize it, I just can’t give this one a negative review.
Maybe it was the energy of the press screening I attended, which happened to be filled with a public audience that absolutely ate this movie up. That kind of atmosphere can do wonders for a comedy, and I won’t pretend it didn’t play a role in how I experienced it. From the very first scene, I had the distinct thought, “Yep, this is a straight-to-streamer”. It looks and moves exactly like something designed to be background noise for a casual Friday night. And yet, despite its clear lack of artistic ambition, I have to admit that I laughed a tad more than I expected I would.
The film’s flaws are impossible to miss. Not only does it look and feel like something tailor-made for streaming, but its comedy also veers way too far into over-the-top goofiness. If you’re someone who thinks Will Ferrell has a tendency to overdo it with his signature brand of absurd humor, well, this movie does nothing to change that perception. And with that comes the usual parade of kooky, unrealistic characters, some of whom land while others feel like they wandered in from an SNL sketch. For every genuine laugh the film got out of me, there were just as many moments that made me cringe.
And then there’s the pacing; just when it feels like the movie should be wrapping up, the final act drags on way longer than necessary. The biggest casualty of that runtime bloat? The film’s last-ditch attempt to make us buy into some kind of romantic dynamic between Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon’s characters that was never there. It just doesn’t work, and instead of adding emotional weight, it feels like an awkward, forced bookend to the film.
And yet, I have to give the movie props for showing glimpses of punching above its weight. Despite its obvious flaws, it still managed to get some genuine, laugh-out-loud moments out of me - more than I expected, honestly. Every now and then, the comedic writing was sharper than it had any right to be, sneaking in jokes that landed better than they should have. And while the movie mostly leans into its absurdity, there were a couple of moments where it actually tried to inject some heart into the storytelling.
Beyond that, the film also put in more effort than expected in a few technical areas. The score wasn’t just a lazy, forgettable streaming-movie afterthought, it actually had some personality. And I appreciated the creative touch of breaking the film’s acts with graphic transitions designed to look like elements from a wedding invitation or program. Little details like that showed that, at the very least, someone in the creative process cared.
And I have to admit, as much as I fought hard against giving this movie too much credit, I was never bored. It kept me engaged just enough to make me give a damn about how things would shake out in the end, and that, in itself, says something.
There’s a serious stiff-collared, buttoned-up part of my film critic brain that insists You’re Cordially Invited is the definition of a C+ movie. And honestly, I wouldn’t argue with any fellow critic who lands there. But if I’m being real with myself? I kinda liked it.
Yeah, it’s a lightweight, goofy little film that never aspires to be anything more than a time-killer, but every now and then, it manages to punch above its weight. It got more laughs out of me than I expected, and despite its very identifiable flaws, I never found myself checking out completely. So, with that in mind, I’m giving it a just-good-enough initial grade of B-.
Maybe in the weeks or months ahead, I’ll change my tune over on Letterboxd, these things have a way of settling differently over time. But for now? Middling, sure. Flawed, absolutely. But still okay enough that it made me forget a few worries for some time.
GRADING