Wedding Daze, the first feature film written and directed by comedian Michael Ian Black, never got a proper theatrical release in America. Instead, Wedding Daze saw a limited release on in some European countries, and was released on DVD in the United States in January of 2008.
American Pie star Jason Biggs plays Anderson who, at the beginning of the film goes against his best friend’s advice and dresses up as Cupid to propose to his girlfriend in a fancy restaurant. When she collapses and dies of shock upon seeing him, he spends a year in mourning on his couch, surrounded by junk-food wrappers, despite the best efforts of his best friend Ted (Michael Weston), to shake some sense into him.
Following another lecture from Ted about getting on with his life, Anderson impulsively proposes marriage to the next girl he meets, a cute waitress in a local restaurant. Amazingly, Katie (Isla Fisher) accepts his offer, in an effort to escape her clingy, closeted fiancé, William (Chris Diamantopoulos) and her controlling mother Lois (Joanna Gleason). From there, the adoring twosome tries to get accustomed to their new status as a couple. Unfortunately for them, people around them are a constant source of embarrassment: there are Anderson’s oversexed parents Betsy (Margo Martindale) and Lyle (Edward Herrmann), Katie’s circus-freak best friends Matador (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Jane (Heather Goldenhersh) and Joe Pantoliano who plays Katie’s jailbird father Smitty. Thankfully, he delivers a few laughs when Black’s script doesn’t offer much of anything else.
Fisher is charming, and though Biggs is as sleepy as ever, as he showed in the American Pie movies, he does stupid comedy well. There’s enough crazy goings on here are enough of a diversion to keep audiences amused enough to overlook the film’s ridiculous plot. Do we care about these two characters that are so stupid? I know I don’t.
Presented in a 1:85:1 aspect ratio, this 1080p Blu-ray transfer is a fairly good one. The image is quite vibrant, and contrast and blacks are even. While there are a couple of instances of brief image softness, I detected no artifacting, or edge enhancement. Solid catalogue title release.
The audio is presented in a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix. The film is primarily dialogue and music driven. Dialogue is clear and understandable as is the music coming from the front and center channels. There are some moments where the surround channels are used. When a gun is shot into the ceiling, you can hear the surround channels being utilized.
The special features are limited to three deleted scenes, and an alternate opening.
