Film Reviews

Confetti

• Rating:
• Director: Debbie Isitt
• Starring: Jessica Stevenson
• Details: UK, 100mins, 15.

When bridal magazine Confetti offers the prize of a brand new home to the couple who can put on the most original wedding of the year, it is editor Antoni's (Carr) job to pick three suitable couples who have a chance of winning. Ignoring the Elvis, dinosaur and ancient Rome (which would include the sacrifice of a pig) themed weddings, Antoni opts for posh couple Josef (Mangan) and Isabelle's (Meredith MacNeill) tennis themed wedding, Michael (Robert Webb) and Joanna's (Olivia Coleman) naturists and Matt (Freeman) and Sam's (Stevenson) homage to the MGM musicals. Problems immediately arise for jealous Josef and Isabelle whose fractious relationship is on the brink of disintegration and whose hopes are severely dashed when Isabelle decides for a disastrous nose job. Michael and Joanna's plans run amuck when Joanna confesses that she doesn't want to parade nude in front of strangers and Antoni's comment "Who wants to see her muff anyway?" almost ruins her self-confidence. Matt and Sam hopes to sing their vows and dance around the stage dissipate when Sam is discovered to be tone deaf and suffers from "physical dyslexia". The threat of her estranged father turning up and ruining the day for her overpowering mother doesn't help much either. Comic timing is the key to Confetti's success and it has it spades with awkward looks to the camera and brilliant one-liners. Taking her cue form Christopher Guest's (Spinal Tap, Best In Show) mockumentary style and boasting a cast that includes the best of British television comedy (The Office, Peep Show, The Royle Family, Green Wing, Spaced and Big Train), writer-director Debbie Isitt was onto a winner from the get go. Although it gets most of the laughs it aims for, Confetti is not all smiles and sunshine as she injects a lot of humanity into Sam and Matt's wedding; while Stevenson and Freeman compliment each other perfectly, it is Stevenson who outshines her co-stars and proves she is a lot more that just a comic actress. With weddings going awry, hilariously squirmy moments to rival the best of The Office and lots of full frontal male nudity, Confetti is the best date movie released in yonks.

Review by Gavin Burke