“You’ll never live a true happy life if you always depend on other people to create it for you.” - unknown
The need for comedy has never been greater. Between the darkness of a maga(t) led hellscape and the professionally outraged berating the genre into hiding, genuine comedies, not adventure films with funny sidekick characters, I mean true comedy is becoming too much of a rarity these days. So it’s a welcomed change of pace when one finally comes along. That said, as glad as I am to see even the most basic concept for a comedy, it doesn’t mean I can’t find and call out its shortcomings. Basic is still basic last time I checked. And You’re Cordially Invited is as basic as they come.
There is a lot to appreciate about this Nicholas Stoller directed comedy but its rudimentary story isn’t one of those things. Director of classics like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek, he has certainly proven himself in the comedy genre. And I don’t want to disparage the film for the sake of clicks but to deny what doesn’t work about it isn’t fair either. I want comedy to return in a big way but that doesn’t mean start blindly greenlighting anything resembling something funny. We can have the raunch, we can giggle at the full frontal nudity, we can laugh at the farts and burps but I still want a competently pieced together story, likable characters and something beyond the basic shock value of foul language and being overtly crass. One does not have to negate the other.
We can bring them together and concoct something worthwhile, something that demonstrates an intelligence, a strong understanding of what is and isn’t funny and knowing when and where to strike that balance between dick and fart jokes and cleverly constructed humor.
You’re Cordially Invited has many funny moments. I would even argue as comedies go it’s far from awful, and closer to something I can see myself watching more than once. But in this category, let’s call it “middle of the road”, it never attempts to rise above it. In fact, after much rumination, I couldn’t justify the R rating beyond that of a few bad words. This comedy would play out almost exactly as it does with a PG-13 rating so it begs the question - what’s the point? An R rating because the characters say some naughty, bad, grown up words is boring. So in terms of a grown up comedy, it never earns the title. The story structure is familiar as breakfast but less inviting for seconds. It’s more predictable than flushing a toilet seeing the water drain from the bowel. It does the same thing every time and always will. You can see where it’s going within the first five minutes and while for comedies that might work, you then have to consider if your story is predictable and the comedic side of things is passable at best, what do you really have to appreciate beyond a few chuckles that might slip out in the process?
I’ll even defend its predictability by saying the journey is the point of the movie. The ending is point B and the story leading up to it starts with A and does a gymnastics routine worth of subplots, thematic badgering and cringey gen z jokes all meant to connect to a final culmination of characters discovering their entire futures in a single weekend. You’ve seen this movie before but often it can just come down to chemistry saving the day.
Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon together create some genuinely funny scenes and for a one time viewing, You’re Cordially Invited isn’t the worst way you could spend two hours. And while I stated earlier that repeated viewings wouldn’t be terrible, a second go-round with these cliche characters doesn’t have me jumping for joy. I’m watching it again if someone I care about asks me to watch it with them. As for any solo watching? I’m good. Ferrell is “Ferrell-ing” and Witherspoon is conceited and independent but undeniably interesting at times, just way too sporadically to be considered anything resembling consistency.
I feel like I’m just talking in circles at this point. You’re Cordially Invited has the kind of spirit that makes me want to see the best in it. I don’t want to tear it apart and I want to describe what does work about it for anyone considering watching it. It has a likeability about it without question but at nearly two hours, I wanted to call it about twenty minutes earlier.
I would say its final cinematic sin is feeling as if it doesn’t know when to quit the schtick. When two wedding parties double book the same venue on the same weekend, the two main characters eventually become enemies attempting to sabotage one another’s wedding plans. It’s a repeated trade off of shenanigans that of course inevitably go too far. It simply goes on for too long. It reaches a point where it has you thinking, “I get it. Let’s move on now.” But it continues for thirty more minutes.
Possibly my biggest issue is a potential spoiler so consider this your warning. The spoiler-free section will continue in the following paragraph. In the end, Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon become a couple. It doesn’t feel earned in any way and is incredibly forced like a last minute story element wholly unnecessary to the overall plot. They could have ended the story as mutuals learning their respective life lessons and moving on with their lives. A hat on a hat if you will.
For two hours, You’re Cordially Invited is serviceable. It will come and go in your consciousness like river water down a mountainside. It will make you giggle, it will leave you feeling uninspired but slightly more amused than when you first sat down to watch it. In the pantheon of Will Ferrell comedies, this will sit comfortably near the bottom looking up at the greatness of The Other Guys and Step Brothers and wish it could have been different.
Rated R For: language throughout and some sexual references
Runtime: 109 minutes
After Credits Scene: Mid-credits, yes.
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Geraldine Viswanathan, Meredith Hagner
Directed By: Nicholas Stoller
Out of 10
Story: 6.5/ Acting: 7/ Directing: 6.5/ Visuals: 5
OVERALL: 6.5/10
Buy to Own: No. (Take it or leave it)
Check out the trailer below: