Who, alas, dies in the aforementioned first twenty minutes. “No one worries about you like your mother,” Ave Maria says in voiceover. “You can’t turn to her anymore and it changes your life forever.” Ain’t it the truth. Also changing Ave Maria’s life: the revelation of a family secret, the threats of a nasty quasi-in-law, and the prospect of Jack’s marriage to a local hotsy-totsy who’s such a hotsy-totsy that she actually goes by the name “Sweet Sue” (Jane Krakowski). And turning the whole town’s head is the prospect of a visit from a senatorial candidate named John Warner and his movie star wife Elizabeth Taylor. (And yes, this event is a historical fact, and a somewhat notorious one, as the movie shows, or as you can find out via a computer search engine).
The movie ambles along amiably enough for a while; it’s better if you are a fan of one or more members of the cast. Judd brings her “Where The Heart Is”/”A Time To Kill” A-game to the proceedings, Goldberg doesn’t overdo her friendly comedy relief, Elfman is bubbly, Krakowski dry, Wilson handsome. Jasmine Guy turns up, looking rather remarkably like Ruby Dee. The movie puts its foot in a big pile of goofy when the character of “Elizabeth Taylor” makes herself known as a bouffy wig on actress Dagmara Dominczyk, always shot from behind. This coincides with a ramping up of the movie’s romantic comedy content, and if you are not on board by this time, you might find yourself nodding in vigorous, non-ironic agreement with Goldberg’s character at the point when she observes, “This is the dumbest wedding I’ve ever seen.”
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