As Valentine’s Day approaches, we’re going to see new romcoms and movies filled with love stories hitting the big screen as well as streaming networks. And of course, Prime Video has one to release this year. You’re Cordially Invited stars Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell as family members who have booked a small island resort for their loved ones, on the same day. The two couples want nothing more than to get married, but the clashing personalities of Jim (Ferrell) and Margot (Witherspoon) are too much to just lets things play out.
This seems like it would be the winning combination for comedy, but what it ends up being instead is a mess of scenes trying to upstage the one before, and two great leads that are being under utilized. Both Ferrell and Witherspoon have proven in the past that they are great at comedy but also can be the love interest easily in movies. But the characters of Jim and Margot, just seem very surface level and not developed enough. Jim is the over attentive single father, and Margot the corporate producer who can’t relate to anyone in her family she left back in Atlanta. They both have the same goal of giving their family the best wedding ever, but let their egos get in the way and almost ruin everything for everyone.

Can we forgive the movie for basically stealing the basic plot from Bride Wars and putting it on a resort island? Maybe, if the movie provided enough else from there. Did the movie need to make half of the characters unrelatable and obnoxious? No, and that helps make the movie almost an unbearable two hours long. Yes, there are some fun moments in the movie, but the amount of times the characters immediately jump to conclusions, don’t take half a second to think before they act, and try to shoehorn a story in – it’s hard to justify the time to watch the movie.

There are a couple of good things about You’re Cordially Invited, mostly that you don’t have to invest too much in the characters and the fact that it is streaming for free. This is one of those rare situations where the movie went straight to streaming, and honestly, that is exactly where it belongs. Sure, some people probably will find it endearing. But they have to get over the obnoxious twenty-somethings who are acting like they’ve never been in a public situation before, the over the top antics from two grown adults that just let it all go at the end, and the fact that the movie seems to borrow some of the biggest tropes from romcoms of the past without giving a decent payoff at the end. But still, somehow this will make someone’s top movie list this year.
If you’re looking for something to absolutely kill some of your time and not really give you anything in return – you can find You’re Cordially Invited on Prime Video today. But if you’re looking for something better to stream, the lead actors bodies of work can provide you with so many better options.
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About You’re Cordially Invited
When two weddings are accidentally booked on the same day at the same venue, each bridal party is challenged with preserving their family’s special moment while making the most of the unanticipated tight quarters. In a hilarious battle of determination and grit, the father of the bride (Will Ferrell) and sister of the other bride (Reese Witherspoon) chaotically go head-to-head as they stop at nothing to uphold an unforgettable celebration for their loved ones.