X
- 2019
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 2019
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
Summary Jay (Dev Patel) is a man with a secret who travels from Britain to Pakistan to attend a wedding—armed with duct tape, a shotgun, and a plan to kidnap the bride-to-be (Radhika Apte). Despite his cool efficiency, the plot quickly spirals out of control, sending Jay and his hostage on the run across the border and through the railway statio...
Directed By: Michael Winterbottom
Written By: Michael Winterbottom
- 2019
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
- 2019
- R
- IFC Films
- 1 h 36 m
The Wedding Guest
57
5.6
Where to Watch
Summary Jay (Dev Patel) is a man with a secret who travels from Britain to Pakistan to attend a wedding—armed with duct tape, a shotgun, and a plan to kidnap the bride-to-be (Radhika Apte). Despite his cool efficiency, the plot quickly spirals out of control, sending Jay and his hostage on the run across the border and through the railway statio...
Directed By: Michael Winterbottom
Written By: Michael Winterbottom
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
57
52% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
44% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 25 Critic Reviews
57
52% Positive
13 Reviews
13 Reviews
44% Mixed
11 Reviews
11 Reviews
4% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Patel excels as a smouldering, enigmatic antihero who gradually begins to drop his defences; Apte might be even better as the duplicitous femme fatale.
The phrase “low-key thriller” might be an oxymoron, but it also feels like the best description of The Wedding Guest.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 User Ratings
5.6
30% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
60% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
10% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 10 User Ratings
5.6
30% Positive
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
60% Mixed
6 Ratings
6 Ratings
10% Negative
1 Rating
1 Rating
There is something nice about seeing a 'kid' actor grow into a full adult and you just know we will continue hearing from him. Dev Patel was 20 years old when he made "Slum Dog Millionaire" and followed that with the "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" and its sequel building up an impressive resume. This week he has opened in two movies those being "The Wedding Guest" and "Hotel Mumbai". I saw the former this afternoon.
The film opens with Dev Patel, as Jay, a throwback to the actors of yesteryear stepping into a Hitchcock movie with an edge. He packs 4 passports, gets to his destination, buys 2 guns, duck tape and kidnaps a woman sleeping in a house filled with people and on the way out kills a security guard.
The woman, Samira, played by Radikha Apte, was getting into a marriage she didn't want and arranged with her lover for this heist. Samira and Jay ride from one city to another in Pakistan and India, from Jaipur to Goa to Delhi, with each place more crowded, more cars, more overbuilding than is complained about in the USA! The scenes showing the country at its worst and most beautiful, the latter near the end of the movie which takes place at the beach, are a major part fo the movie.
After the bride-to-be is kidnapped there are many red herrings concerning diamonds, scooters, money, men, chnaging passports, another killing just to name a few. The major thing is it leads to nowhere with the ending making very little sense.
The director and screenplay writer, Michael Winterbottom, along with his cinematographer, Giles Nuttgens, makes "The Wedding Guest" an interesting film to watch while Dev Patel along with Radhika Apte have the chemistry to make the roles involve the audience no matter where it leads.
"The Wedding Guest" reminded me of one of the old Warner Brothers double bills with this being the B movie. At a fast moving 93 minutes which, in my opinion, lead nowhere, itm has many positives about it with Dev Patel showing he has matured and can handle the tough guy roles!
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Dev Patel deserves some recognition for trying to get various diverse roles in his career, since in recent years he has been found in films that although haven't been notorious have shown that he's looking to continue growing as an actor.
If in the end these films deserve your fully attention, well that ends up being a very different matter and as in this case it's not entirely disappointing but it doesn't turn out to be something remarkable either. It's in the middle.
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It plays like a compelling, genre-inflected advertisement for the Indian tourism board, even as Winterbottom toils in the country’s seedy underbelly.
Michael Winterbottom’s film succeeds in translating the problematics of intercultural conflict into thriller fodder.
What’s lacking is personality from the human characters, which is a serious failing, considering how the film shifts into character mode as Apte slowly emerges as an equal to Patel, while both remain too guarded for audiences to fully appreciate as people.
The Wedding Guest is as technically accomplished as any film Winterbottom has ever made. But it all amounts to very, very little.
This anemic little so-called thriller is the next best thing to a prescription for 30 mg Dalmane.
This is a weird mix between a non-action action film and a shaggy dog story. Dev Patel stays serious as man who's been hired to kidnap a woman (Radhika Apte). She's about to be married in Pakistan, but their subsequent trip thru several surrounding countries takes them in new directions (literally and figuratively). The narrative unfolds with lots of mystery, but by the time it ends, there are still questions. Interestingly, this was written/directed by Michael Winterbottom, who wrote all 3 of "The Trip" series where Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon drive thru several beautiful countries and eat. This trip features unspectacular countryside and jammed cities, but none of it is especially attractive. Even though Patel's sullen demeanor lacks depth and the whole thing never pays off, the film is somewhat compelling.
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(Mauro Lanari)
"Nothing happens...nothing to write because there is nothing in it. There is no wedding and there is no guest."
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Production Company
Chisel Films,
India Take One Productions,
Ingenious Media,
LipSync Post,
Revolution Films,
Riverstone Pictures,
Stage 6 Films
Release Date Mar 1, 2019
Duration 1 h 36 m
Rating R
Genres
Awards
Palm Springs International Film Festival
• 1 Nomination
