Remember how every wedding in Four Weddings and a Funeral had its own hilariously unique awkwardness about it?
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Table 19 is what happens if you focus on just one wedding – and no funerals.
The ensemble comedy written by indie duo the Duplass Brothers is as hilarious as it is heartfelt.
It gathers a cast of equally messed-up folks, puts them together and lets the hilarity play out.
Former maid of honour Eloise (Anna Kendrick, Pitch Perfect) has been relegated to the leftover table – 19 – after a break-up with the bride’s brother.
She resolved to come to the wedding regardless, to celebrate her ‘oldest friend’s’ nuptials.
On her table at the back of the room are married couple Bina and Jerry Kepp (Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson) who have only a cursory connection to the bridal family, the bride’s former nanny Jo (June Squibb, Nebraska), the bride’s elusive, slightly criminal cousin Walter (Stephen Merchant, Deadpool) and high-schooler desperate to leave with a date Rezno (Tony Revolori, The Grand Budapest Hotel).
Moving along at a cracking pace – and coming in at less than 90 minutes – Table 19 covers all sorts of personal breakdowns, crises of confidence and cathartic realisations.
Each character starts out as a seeming archetype, without depth, a caricature of a real person.
But as the film progresses the layers are pulled back and it becomes clear that there is far more to all of these screw-ups and loners than it first appears.
Every main character gets their moments to shine, mostly with hilarious results, but sometimes also with touching results.
The primary cast is supported by several other important players, including best man Teddy (Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt and Goldie Hawn), best man’s new girlfriend Nikki (Amanda Crew, Charlie St Cloud) and the mysterious ‘Huck’ (Aussie newcomer Thomas Cocquerel).
When the film ends, though it does carry many of the tropes expected of an ensemble rom-com, it leaves the characters in a place you wouldn’t expect.
There are ways that Table 19 bucks the trends and it is all the better for it.
It’s going to change the world or win any awards, but Table 19 is a lovely, quick film to deliver some great laughs and maybe even a few tears.