Backyard Wedding (2010) Alicia Witt, Teddy Sears, Ryan Bittle, Markie Post, Frances Fisher Movie Review

Backyard Wedding (2010)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Alicia Witt in Backyard Wedding (2010)

Sweet Home Backyard Wedding

Whilst their dads never got on Kim Tyler (Alicia Witt) and Evan Slauson (Teddy Sears) did going from childhood sweethearts to a young married couple. Unfortunately things didn't work out and having had the marriage annulled parted company. Now Kim is returning home to marry the new man in her life Jeffrey (Ryan Bittle) in a backyard wedding she always dreamed off. The trouble is that Evan just happens to return home at the same time causing them both to deal with the fact that they still have feelings for each other.

To sum up "Backyard Wedding", it is "Sweet Home Alabama" in disguise. That disguise is a TV movie which sees a young woman returning home to marry the new man in her life in a backyard wedding but comes face to face with her childhood sweetheart who she married but it didn't work out. So basically "Backyard Wedding" is one of the most predictable and underwhelming romantic comedies simply because it is so text book. From the minute we learn all about Kim and Evan having married too young and ending up divorced you know they will get back together. And when we learn all about Kim's husband to be Jeffrey who is very career focussed not only is he the classic TV rom-com jerk but also the guy you know will lose out.

Teddy Sears in Backyard Wedding (2010)

Now being totally devoid of originality wouldn't be an issue if there was other things going on in "Backyard Wedding" too provide a bit of distraction. But the only subplot, if you can call it that, is the rivalry between Kim and Evan's dads who constantly try to annoy each other. It is supposed to be comedy but is so limp that rarely does it make you laugh which is bad news considering this is where most of the comedy comes from. Then again it is just as limp as the romance because there is absolutely no romantic spark. Oh there are some nice scenes as Evan and Kim deal with their feelings but they're not memorably romantic.

Adding to the issue and one which isn't much of a surprise is that the characters are flat and unoriginal. There is not a single interesting or believable character in the whole of "Backyard Wedding" and so it ends up a movie which you watch but don't connect to. And that is a shame as the cast which includes Alicia Witt, Frances Fisher, Teddy Sears and Ryan Bittle are all well chosen except none of them really get to deliver much due to their thin characters.

What this all boils down to is that "Backyard Wedding" is as routine and unremarkable as romantic comedies come, sticking tight to the romantic comedy playbook and never trying to be new or different. It is shall we say inoffensive but as a romantic comedy it is neither that funny nor romantic.


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