Trouble in Paradise: a review of the romantic thriller "My Pirate Wedding"

As you know, not all weddings go as planned, but none of them are as messy as they are in romantic comedies. The setting is a playground of misadventure, where carefully crafted, hilarious intrigues are easily constructed, leading to emotional highs once the happy couple finally connects destinies. Jason Moore's My Pirate Wedding doesn't defy that formula too much, but its overall mood is one of refreshing therapy for an unsettling marriage, complete with shooting, body counting, and a certain amount of escapism.

Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) and Tom (Josh Duhamel) are divided when it comes to their upcoming wedding in the Philippines. She dreams more of a small, intimate ceremony, while he takes the initiative and plans the event on a grand scale, renting an entire exotic island for family and friends. Among those invited are her loser younger sister Jamie (Callie Hernandez), her mother Renata (Sonia Braga), deeply unhappy after a divorce, her billionaire father Robert (Chech Marin) with a young hippie friend Harriet (D'Arcy Carden). On Tom's side, awkward parents Larry (Steve Coulter) and Carol (Jennifer Coolidge) and his goofy best friend Ricky (Desmin Borges) take part in the celebration. Even despite the joyful occasion, minor disagreements between the guests strain the young people even more, who are forced to act as mediators between them.

In addition, at the last moment, the bride and groom are faced with unforeseen circumstances, from decorating as in an advertisement for a festive table, and ending with the accommodation of Darcy's ex-boyfriend, rich and handsome Sean (Lenny Kravitz). The crown of this turbulence is the fear of the bride, which leads to quarrels with the groom when none of the guests sees them. While they are engaged in a showdown, the bandits take hostage those who are invited, trying to find the disappeared heroes of the occasion. This forces Darcy and Tom to unite and take care of saving both their loved ones and their love for each other.

With a flippant gimmick, the creators package the poignancy of the story in a slightly different way than other rom-coms that bypass psychological healing in favor of a sugary and witty ending. However, despite the fact that the main characters have a logically looped storyline, screenwriter Mark Hammer does them a disservice by conveying motives and character traits through dialogue instead of revealing through action. There are more valleys than peaks in the story, thanks to a few far-fetched revelations, and much attention is given to the internal and external interests of Darcy and Tom. The film maintains a cheerful sense of humor, giving the couple enough time to deal with grievances against each other and relatives, fighting for survival.

Moore and his team subtly combine craftsmanship with delightful storytelling nuances whenever possible. For example, we can trace Darcy's evolution from a weary peacemaker to a ruthless warrior through her changing wardrobe. As the layers of tulle shed and tear on her voluminous wedding dress, so does her need to respect the needs of others over her own. She is reborn, transformed after coming face to face with gangsters in a hotel kitchen in an inspirational sequence that sheds light on the collective efforts of Moore, cinematographer Peter Deeming and costume designer Mitchell Travers.

Lopez, who feels completely at ease in her favorite genre, finds new facets to explore with the heroine. Instead of jumping right off the bat (as was the case with The Wedding Planner, The Maid Mistress, and most recently The First Encounter), the story of Darcy builds on the development of her abilities. Her movements are precise as she deftly maims and kills bandits, flexes her muscles in physically active comedy and mixes witty slapstick with action choreography. Lopez and Duhamel have a good teamwork, showing decent wit and ease when their characters banter or bicker with each other. And yet it is Kravitz who threatens to "steal the show" from the lead actor, disarming the viewer with natural charisma and literally burning the screen with an unforgettable presence.

With some pretty compelling content, the action rom-com My Pirate Wedding is better than the average movie but falls short of its cousin in the sub-genre of 2010's Knight of the Day. But despite the fact that the wild scenes fail in some aspects, and the balance between the main and auxiliary players is barely perceptible, you can easily say yes to this picture.