Because I recently reviewed License to Wed (2007), I already have a frame of reference for Robin Williams playing a priest.  Thus, the fact that he is Father Bill Moinighan in The Big Wedding (2012) is not a shock.  What is also not unexpected is that it would be another example of a film getting key components of Catholic teaching on matrimony wrong.  Among the actual surprises is the fact that a major studio production with a cast such as The Big Wedding did not get more publicity.  I will rely on the synopsis to flesh out all the A-listers, but I would be floored if you are reading this and saying to yourself, oh yeah, I remember that one.  I could not say the same for me, and it was that lack of familiarity that led me to put on what I figured would be another paint-by-numbers romantic comedy.  I wish I could say I was wrong.

Before The Big Wedding, Eleanor “Ellie” Griffin (Diane Keaton) looks like she has come to the wrong house.  Despite finding the hide-a-key, she peers at various items inside curiously.  She also scrambles to hide when the current residents, Donald “Don” Robert Griffin (Robert De Niro) and Beatrice “Bebe” Martha McBride (Susan Sarandon), walk into the kitchen.  It comes time for Ellie to reveal her presence when Bebe and Don begin making love on the kitchen countertop.  If you noticed the similar surnames for Don and Ellie, it is because they were once married.  The only reason she has come back to the New England home they once shared with Don is because their adopted son, Alejandro Soto Griffin (Ben Barnes), is getting married to Melissa “Missy” O’Connor (Amanda Seyfried).  The two soon-to-be spouses are currently meeting with Father Moinighan at the church as part of their Pre-Cana preparations for their big day.  At least this one got the name for the Catholic marriage readiness course correct, even if the subsequent ceremony takes place outside and thus invalidates it.  Another member of the family coming to town for the title occasion is Don and Ellie’s daughter, Lyla Griffin (Katherine Heigl).  Instead of going to their childhood home, she goes to meet her brother who is a doctor at the nearby hospital, Jared Griffin (Topher Grace).  Prior to them encountering one another, she feints upon seeing the babies in the maternity ward.  Some of this is chalked up to stress caused by her imperiled marriage to Andrew (Kyle Bornheimer).  It also has to do with her supposedly being infertile, hence the marital troubles.  At any rate, they depart in time to make it to a reception being held at the local country club in honor of the upcoming wedding.  The only point of this sequence is to see everyone together and their dysfunctionality.  This is all without considering the imminent arrival of Alejandro’s biological mother from Columbia, Madonna Soto (Patricia Rae).  Madonna is used to a more traditional family arrangement and is unaware of any troubles between Don and Ellie.  Hence, just prior to Madonna’s arrival, it is decided that Don and Ellie are going to pretend to still be husband and wife.  This does not sound like a good idea to Bebe, prompting her to pack her stuff and leave.  Traveling with Madonna is her daughter, and Alejandro’s biological sister, Nuria Soto (Ana Ayora).  The normally hesitant to return romantic feelings Jared is immediately attracted to Nuria.  It also does not hurt that she immediately takes her clothes off in front of him to go swimming.  These are not the only complications arising.  After a disastrous rehearsal dinner wherein Ellie tells Ana to slow down on the physical advances, the former is unable to follow her own advice and ends up sleeping with Don.  In the morning, with Bebe’s catering company setting up for the wedding at the house, the dilemma becomes what to do about telling her about what happened the previous night.  It is all the more pertinent since the idea of Don and Ellie being remarried had been floated.  It culminates with each concerned party meeting in a back area of the tent in which the ceremony is to take place.  Among the verbal blows are physical ones, such as when Bebe punches Don after learning of the infidelity.  In the commotion, they stop to notice the guests who had been able to overhear the theatrics.  The settlement of this mess goes as follows: Bebe and Ellie, who had been best friends, talk things over and agree that Bebe is the right woman for Don; Don and Lyla chat, during which he guesses is her pregnancy, and she eventually appreciates the fact that he had invited her estranged husband; Ana changes her mind about sleeping with Jared, and they spend most of the rest of the proceedings in bed; and seeing the chaos, Alejandro and Missy slip away to be privately wedded by Father Moinighan.  With everything falling into place, including Alejandro apologizing to Madonna for lying, Don proposes to Bebe.  With the pertinent people already present, mainly Father Moinighan, Bebe and Don exchange vows, and that is basically where the film ends.

I am not trying to cut short my synopsis of The Big Wedding.  There is not much to it despite all the characters and an intricate plot.  Ultimately, it is about a number of flawed people getting together and seeing how awful they can be to each other.  Even though it has some questionable material in it, including one nude scene, there were a few Catholic moments in it.  I already mentioned the outdoors wedding, which makes for an invalid Sacrament.  Most of the time, priests, even though they have civil authority to confer a marriage, are forbidden to celebrate one beyond the confines of a church without the permission of their bishop.  One minor saving grace for these proceedings, though, is the scene that takes place in an actual Catholic church, St. Agnes, in Greenwich, Connecticut.  Interestingly, all of those present end up in the Confessional booth with Father Moinighan.  This is interesting because, while to be an official Sacrament, one would have to go through the proper steps, but anyone can enter this area and talk to a priest.  Most of what they talk about is a bunch of nonsense related to their particular character.  The one that asks the best questions is Alejandro.  He is wondering whether it is possible to lie to someone to protect them.  This is a tricky area for Catholics.  On the one hand, a lie is a sin, and to try to justify it on the basis of altruism is a difficult proposition but, perhaps, understandable.  The Church does not tell us that we must be completely honest all the time.  We do believe in tact.  At the same time, what happens in the film is completely tactless.  The better approach is telling the truth in love as Jesus would, and that is sorely lacking from a film that claims to be about love.

That last point about The Big Wedding is an important one.  As the movie is coming to a close, Ellie talks to Father Moinighan about the different kinds of love, a concept enumerated by famous Christian author C. S. Lewis.  However, I can give many more kinds of reasons not to watch this film.