Though never explicitly identified as such, Franck is obviously gay, and yet Short perfectly calibrates his funny mannerisms to stop short of stereotype: his feyness and his gentleness are as certain and yet unplaceable as his Central European accent. While expanding Short's role sounds, on paper, like an ill-advised choice, it works. The Banks enlist Franck first for Annie's baby shower, and then to supervise the creation of a nursery for George and Nina's new child, but he gets more than he bargained for when he's swept up in the dash to the hospital. Drama over whether or not to sell the Banks homestead as part of George and Nina's "second act" of American life gets brushed aside with a big surprise: Nina, too, is pregnant, prompting a whole new round of self-searching for everyone and, thankfully, opportunities for Keaton to develop her character and even be a little funny. The news ups the ante on George's midlife crisis, prompting some amusingly pathetic anti-aging tactics (this plot thread effectively sequelizes the first film's scene of George squeezing into an old tux while singing "What's New, Pussycat?"). This time, Annie has a baby on the way, which makes George and Nina grandparents to be. Shyer, Meyers, and pretty much the entire cast are back, including Eugene Levy in the new and larger role of Middle Eastern house-flipper Mr.
#Father of the bride 2 movie
Helping the movie along are effective supporting performances from Keiran Culkin as the youngest Banks, BD Wong as Franck's assistant Howard Weinstein, and Peter Michael Goetz and Kate McGregor-Stewart as the in-laws (Eugene Levy also puts in a brief cameo as a wedding singer).įour years later, Father of the Bride, Part II pulled off the rare trick of being a sequel remake, one that arguably improves on its immediate predecessor. But the rest is certainly watchable in that milequetoast, bourgeois pocket cozily inhabited by '90s Hollywood family comedies. Keaton is wasting her time here, and only one scene has the wit to be worthy of Martin: a very funny meltdown in the grocery aisle, when George decides he will no longer play sucker to the conspiracy between hot-dog manufacturers and hot-dog-bun manufacturers.
But first, George must suffer the tortures of the paternally damned.
Much, of course, will go wrong, and yet the big day will somehow be perfect for the two people who really matter: the happy couple. Without even having to fight, George wins one battle when the Banks house becomes the reception site, but he's bound to lose the war when near-incomprehensible foreign wedding planner Franck (Martin Short in fine fettle) prices the event at $250 a head, pushes for elaborate redecorations, and orders up three swans. George's wife Nina (Diane Keaton) shows she's considerably more level-headed (certainly in her "emotional intelligence"), though her own excitement about a wedding means George can expect vetos rather than sympathy when it comes to his naturally stingy approach. A sneaker manufacturer by day, George Banks finds the stress of the wedding overshadowed only by his emotional difficulty accepting that his daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams) is no longer his little girl, but a woman ready to embark upon her own life of career and family, with fiancé Bryan MacKenzie (George Newbern).
These are the contempo, California-casual versions of 1950's Father of the Bride and 1951's Father's Little Dividend that one should expect from the then-married couple Charles Shyer (director, producer, co-writer) and Nancy Meyers (producer, co-writer): sunny, sweet, and safe.įather of the Bride finds Martin taking the Spencer Tracy role of a father beleaguered by the tasks of hosting his daughter's wedding and attempting to keep the affair within reasonable bounds. If you're looking for the "wild and crazy guy" version of Steve Martin, you've come to the wrong place: while that guy shows up in a few scenes, he's been appropriated (if not castrated) by Disney. Know thyself: if you're a softie at heart, these two remakes will undoubtedly work on you, the sentiment being much more prominent than humor. The family comedies Father of the Bride and Father of the Bride, Part II are perhaps best distinguished as weepies for dads (especially dads with daughters).
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