Movie review: ‘Father of the Bride’

FloridaGator80
A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

I’ve written in reviews on this blog that how if an actor comes off as endearing that it makes up for a lot of flaws in a performance. Well, today I’m looking at a film that has flaws not in the acting, directing or technical sense (those are all top-notch here), but manages to elevate itself because it is funny, engaging and, most of all, endearing. That film is “Father of the Bride” and it is flawed because the family here is too perfect: they’re always dressed properly; their house never needs to be cleaned; laundry apparently magically reappears clean and tidy in their closets; there’s never any real conflict; and if even the tiniest amount of stress appears its treated as if a strange disease has emerged to strike them. Normally, this would doom a film in my eyes. However, “Father of the Bride” is simply wonderful despite these emotional flaws. You must have watched this one, so watch it again (or yet again) just for fun.

‘Father of the Bride’
(1991; 105 minutes; rated PG; directed by Charles Shyer and starring Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short)

THE ART OF BEING A PARENT

(NOTE: I expanded this review with some more opinion and trivia and updated links on July 22, 2018. I again expanded it on Feb. 27, 2026.)

Steve Martin has this parenting thing down pat on the big screen. From a dramatic turn with some dark moments in Ron Howard’s “Parenthood” (click here to read my review) to “Cheaper by the Dozen” and its sequel (click here to read my review of “Cheaper by the Dozen 2”), Martin does the dad thing right. In “Father of the Bride” he’s experiencing the stress of his little girl (but now adult daughter) getting married and does a good job entertaining us with it.

Of course, Martin and his family live in a perfect world: It’s almost nauseating … they’re always neatly and nattily dressed (even as they undress for bed) and if so much as the slightest touch of stress appears on the horizon, it’s as if an alien being has entered their lives. Most telling of this aggravating phenomenon is when Martin is berated at one point for not buttoning the top button on his shirt (although I’ll admit he was in jail at the time).

Well, Martin is about to fall under the weight of a ton of stress and he’s really funny dealing with it.

Although this type of movie family is usually nauseating to anyone susceptible to an over-saturation of saccharine, “Father of the Bride” never annoys – it just entertains and entertains well because of the actors. The Academy Awards should have a special award each year for films that overcome stereotypes to be watchable. “Father of the Bride” would win that one hands-down.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

In “Father of the Bride,” which is a remake of a 1950 film of the same name starring Spencer Tracy, Martin, who plays “George Banks,” is living a blissful life with his wife, Diane Keaton as “Nina Banks;” their daughter, Kimberly Williams as “Annie Banks” (she’s now Williams-Paisley and would become “Banks-MacKenzie” in the film); and son Kiernan Culkin as “Matty Banks.”

Williams is coming home after studying in Italy and she brings home big news: she’s getting married.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

It’s no surprise that everyone takes this well except Martin, who soon begins to watch “America’s Most Wanted” on TV in hopes of spotting the fiancée and ratchets up his stress level exponentially (of course it’s exponentially since this family had absolutely zero to begin with). The rest of the film plays out in good and sometimes stereotypical anxious father routines but they’re all so well done that you enjoy them all.

A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

In the end the daughter gets married and everyone’s happy – even Martin.

The thing that elevates “Father of the Bride” above its lame, perfect movie family and its many stereotypes is just the frenetic action from Martin and the elegant work of most of the other actors – Culkin is an annoying exception, but I’ll get to him in a minute.

Scenes include meeting the prospective son-in-law; meeting his parents (and a particularly funny scene of Martin searching their personal property and finding a checkbook – remember those?); Martin tossing a hissy fit in a supermarket and being jailed (remember when a hissy fit in a supermarket could land you injail?); the wedding planner (the best character in the film); and then the wedding itself.

Here’s a rundown of some of the primary cast and each’s work:

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

    A five-time Golden Globe nominee (for the sequel, not this one), Martin is the lead character over everyone else and he does his usual excellent turn at both comedy and lightweight drama here (compared to say “Parenthood”). Martin really is good when negative thoughts about his would-be son-in-law blunder through his mind. He’s the father any kid wants: caring, available and affluent. Martin is just as good here as he was in “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” (click here to read my review) or “My Blue Heaven” (click here to read my review). He was presented an honorary Oscar for his “extraordinary” talents and his Globe nominations include “Parenthood,” “Roxanne” and “Pennies from Heaven.” He is a Primetime Emmy winner and 16-time nominee (seven for the series “Only Murders in the Building”) and his win was for writing, not acting, for “The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour.”

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

    An Oscar winner and three-time nominee and a two-time Golden Globe winner and seven-time nominee (not for this one), Keaton delivers a performance that I would call awfully milquetoast at best, but, because of her talent, she grades out as doing a good job. My biggest criticism of Keaton here is that she didn’t manage to elevate the role and make it stand out. After her Oscar win for “Annie Hall,” Keaton was nominated three more times for “Reds,” “Marvin’s Room” and “Something’s Gotta Give.” Her Globe wins were for “Annie Hall” and “Something’s Gotta Give.” Keaton died at 79 of pneumonia in 2025.

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

    As the bride, Williams conveys the emotion and energy with aplomb. She becomes the young bride-to-be with ease and is fun to watch. Williams is smooth in changing persona from dealing with Martin to her interaction with her fiancée. Williams would sparkle in the same way in the sequel and was also in “We are Marshall” and has had a variety of work on TV including “According to Jim.” She’s also been in the series “9-1-1: Nashville” for the 2025-2026 season.

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

    A two-time Primetime Emmy winner and 18-time nominee, Martin Short plays the most outlandish and exuberant character: “Franck Eggelhoffer.” He’s funny, his accent is both strange and funny, but Short conveys “Franck’s” humanity and that character’s own form of earnestness like the pro that he is – especially being haughty as he’s somewhat dismissive of Martin at times. Short was wonderful with a big part in “Innerspace” (click here to read my review), the so-called chick flick “Cross My Heart” with Annette O’Toole and even did an episode of “The Love Boat” (click here for my overview of that wonderful series). Short’s wins and nominations comes for a variety of writing on TV comedy shows including “SCTV Network” and one win was with Martin for a self-titled show done by the two comedians. Of his Emmy nominations, he’s received eight for the series “Only Murders in the Building.”

  • A promotional still photograph from the movie “Father of the Bride.”

    As groom-to-be “Bryan MacKenzie,” George Newbern fits right in – he’s low-key, sensitive and about as masculine as an advertisement for a feminine hygiene product. Actually, that’s a bit unfair (but not inaccurate) because Newbern does solid work here. He was in “Adventures in Babysitting” with Elisabeth Shue (click here to read my review) and was also in “Saw VI” and a string of TV roles. Newbern notched 140 acting credits by the spring of 2026, over a career spanning five decades since the first in 1982.

  • The absolute worst character is “Matty” played by Culkin. I guess he did a good job since the part was written as played: “Matty” is a cute, sugar-coated, no rough edges kid, who in no way shows any kind of emotion. It all comes out in Culkin in the worst cloying way. He was also in … ah, who cares? I certainly don’t.

Finally, the actor with only a few moments screen time but would return for the sequel as a different character is the quietly humorous Eugene Levy.

In “Father of the Bride,” Levy is the unnamed singer auditioning for the wedding reception and in the sequel is the irascible “Mr. Habib.” Levy does truly hilarious work including as the blundering father in the “American Pie” series and even better in “Splash” with Tom Hanks and John Candy (click here for my review).

BTW … I always do the math when I watch this film. For some reason, the final cost of the wedding never sticks in my mind. One scene is when Martin gets the price per-attendee for the wedding and then the number needed to be invited. For the record, it is $250 per-head and, with 572 pegged for invitations, it adds up to a grand total (in 1991 dollars, remember) of $143,000. By some online resources, that amount would equal approximately $340,000 in early 2026.

Also, it’s nice that “Annie” wants to do the wedding vows at a church, but you should take notice that the family never mentions anything about having faith (she never said “our church”) throughout the film. BTW … many churches today require that people who get married are members of the congregation or members of the overall religious denomination.

So, at the end of the day for the family, it’s just something else to shop for to make a good appearance for the wedding. Probably makes the proper background for the photo album and to be politically correct in Hollywood, no mention is aired about any expression of faith.

“Father of the Bride” was the ninth ranked film at the box office in 1991 with $89.3 million in sales, according to Box Office Mojo. “Father of the Bride” and its sequel made $166 million in just the U.S. off budgets totaling $50 million ($20 million for “Father of the Bride”), according to Wiki. The No. 1 film of the year was “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” with $204.8 million and a personal favorite of mine, “The Silence of the Lambs,” was at No. 4 with $130.7 million (click here for my review). Here are the other films from 1991 that I’ve reviewed:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Martin’s birth name is Stephen Glenn Martin; Keaton’s birth name was Diane Hall and her nickname was Annie; Short’s middle name is Hayter; and Williams’ middle name is Payne.
  • Williams was married to country music star Brad Paisley in 2003 and her entertainment credits are now listed as Kimberly Williams-Paisley. The couple has two children. Their son William’s middle name is Huckleberry.
  • Levy and Short both attended Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.”
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “In the scene where George and Nina Banks are eliminating who will be invited to the wedding, among the names they mention are Steve and Stephanie Tyrell. Steve Tyrell did the several of the songs in this film and also in the sequel, Father of the Bride Part 2.”
  • Phoebe Cates was offered the part won by Williams, but she couldn’t accept because she was pregnant. That was 1991. Today? Would have been part of the plot anyway.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “Tom Irish plays the same character, Ben Banks, in both the 1950 and the 1991 versions of ‘Father of the Bride.’”
  • Another BTW: I became “the father of the bride” when our daughter was married five years after my initial posting of this review.
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “Among the wedding gifts Annie receives is a Venus de Milo statue with a clock in the stomach. In the original Father of the Bride (1950), Kay also receives this as one of her wedding gifts. Both look at it with disdain.”

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