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The movie, as a whole, isn't nearly so original. Still, it's a pleasing, well-crafted, surprisingly satisfying diversion. It's eager to entertain and has a quality that's genuinely rare these days, a spirit of gentle modesty.
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75It's one of the movies with a lot of smiles and laughter in it, and a good feeling all the way through. Just everyday life, warmly observed.
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75The film's real subject is the unacknowledged intensity of the father-daughter bond and the difficulty of separation, though Shyer, true to his name, shies away from the more painful implications of the material. [20 Dec 1991, p.B]
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70The screenplay represents recycling at its best. The material has been successfully refurbished with new jokes and new attitudes, but the earlier film's most memorable moments have been preserved.
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63One of the nicest things about Father of the Bride is that it's not ashamed to be old-fashioned and sweet. It's also not ashamed to get sappy and drippy and gooey, but you have to take the good with the bad. [20 Dec 1991, p.C1]
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63The film belongs to Steve Martin, whose crisp, almost bitter delivery, although frequently off-putting, manages to put an edge to a film that, without him, would be mush.
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60The film does work, but not quite as well as the Hepburn-Tracy classic that it seeks to replace. Mildly amusing.
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60The movie is like a big, smug, sunny ball of fluff, batting around in a crystalline cage. It's bright and well-meaning, but there's little to grab onto or feel. Not even the presence of those expert actor/farceurs, Steve Martin and Diane Keaton, give it any real presence or bite. [20 Dec 1991, p.16]
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50A few bits are filler, albeit funny filler. But those who would rather laugh than cry at weddings ( will say "I do'' to Bride. [20 Dec 1991, p.1D]
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50Martin is lots of friendly fun, proving once again that he is an actor with untapped range and style. Without him, the movie would deflate. [20 Dec 1991, p.54]
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Alas, the perfect Steve Martin vehicle will probably never be the perfect film, no matter how endearing the silver-haired actor makes himself. And so it is with Father of the Bride; good, but by no means great. [20 Dec 1991, p.C3]
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50At heart, though, the story is about the deep, complex, poignant love a man has for his daughter: it's the Lolita syndrome without the lust but with every bit of the doting possessiveness. [30 Dec 1991, p.71]
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Steve Martin and Kimberly Williams do their best with a silly screenplay, and there are a few genuine laughs along the way. [20 Dec 1991]
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42As hard as it tries to capture that blend of domestic comedy and paternal angst that made its predecessor a classic, it is still a pale shadow and a barely passable Steve Martin vehicle. [20 Dec 1991, p.10]
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40At first, Father of the Bride is so funny, it's almost sublime. The rest of the movie, alas, is regrets only.
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40The main problem here is the gross inferiority of the new version to the old: compare Tracy's handling of the opening monologue with Martin's and you'll get a fair indication of what's become of commercial filmmaking over the past four decades.
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20Martin's grin-and-don't-bare-it performance lifts the picture above sitcom level. [31 Dec 1991]
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GarryK.7A nice, heart-warming family comedy.