License to Wed

Sadie Jones has always longed to marry the man of her dreams in her family church. Although she has found her lifetime companion in Ben Murphy, Sadie is distressed to learn that St. Augustine has only one wedding slot available in the next two years. However, after re-checking their planning book, the church finds that the wedding can be held in three weeks.

Although Sadie and Ben do qualify for the slot, the church's eccentric minister, Reverend Frank Littleton, will not wed the couple until they agree to enroll in his prenuptial course (shortened, due to the new date, from three months to three weeks). As their wedding date draws near, Sadie and Ben must now follow all of Reverend Frank's rules, attend his unusual classes, and complete a series of homework assignments designed specifically to irritate one another, to confirm that theirs in not puppy love and to ensure that their union will have a sound foundation.

In one part of the course, the couple has to care for twin robot babies to simulate parenting. Due to a technical issue, they get on Ben's last nerve and he destroys one, to the horror of bystanders in a department store. To Ben's dismay, one of Frank's rules is no premarital sex. To ensure compliance, Frank has his young assistant break into the couple's house and install a listening device. As such, Frank and can listen to all conversations. Ben eventually discovers the transmitter but does not tell Sadie, for fear that she will accuse him of lying and planting the bug himself.

Problems gradually begin to develop between the couple. Ben begins an investigation into Frank and eventually discovers that he was once married to a woman named Maria Gonzalez. Shortly before the wedding, Sadie becomes reluctant to have the wedding due to, among other things, Ben not preparing his marriage vows as part of the course, instead drawing a cartoon of a truck.

Ben confronts Frank about Maria Gonzalez, believing him to be a hypocrite. However, Frank reveals that the marriage was done to allow Maria, an immigrant and member of Frank's congregation, to stay in the U.S. Upset that Ben would waste his time on this insignificant investigation, Sadie calls off the wedding, leaving Ben devastated. On Frank's advice, Sadie goes on vacation to Jamaica, the couple's intended honeymoon destination.

Ben seeks advice from his friend Joel, who advises him to give up on Sadie, saying that there are other "fish in the sea". Ben, however, disagrees with this and decides to go to Jamaica. Frank and his assistant travel there, too. Ben attempts to call Sadie, but she refuses to listen. Her parents assure her that all marriages have problems, and her friend Carlisle tells her that Ben may just want someone who relies on him, allowing her to forgive Ben more easily. Ben writes his vows on the sand of the beach, they reconcile, and Frank weds them there.

In February 2005, it was announced that Warner Bros. had acquired the Kim Barker-penned spec script.^[4] In March 2006, it was announced that Robin Williams, Mandy Moore and John Krasinski had been secured for the lead roles.^[5]

 

Filming partially took place at First Congregational Church in Long Beach, California, as well as other locations in the region. Ken Kwapis frequently directed episodes of the U.S. television show The Office. This resulted in appearances from The Office cast members John Krasinski, Angela Kinsey, Mindy Kaling and Brian Baumgartner. Filming began on May 16, 2006.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of 7% based on 124 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The consensus reads: "Featuring one of Robin Williams's most shtick-heavy performances, the broad and formulaic License to Wed wrings little out of its slightly creepy, unappealing premise."^[6] On Metacritic, it has a score of 25 out of 100, based on 30 reviews, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".^[7] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on scale of A+ to F.^[8]

Variety reviewed the film as "an astonishingly flat romantic comedy, filled with perplexing choices".^[9]

Numerous reviewers, including Brian Lowry of Variety and MaryAnn Johanson of Flick Filosopher^[10] described Williams's character as "creepy" and more worthy of a horror-film villain than a comic lead.

The film grossed $10,422,258 in its opening weekend, opening at #4 at the US box office, behind Live Free or Die Hard, Ratatouille and Transformers, the latter of which opened at the top spot. As of November 11, 2007, License to Wed had grossed $43.8 million domestically, and $70.2 million worldwide,^[2] both career highs for Mandy Moore as a lead actress, and a box-office success after a $35 million reported budget.

 

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• License to Wed at Box Office Mojo