License to Wed (DVD)

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Does anyone remember when the last time was that Robin Williams starred in anything even remotely funny? Raise your hand. When was it? "RV"? "The Big White"? "Death to Smoochy"? "Bicentennial Man"? "Patch Adams"? "Flubber"? "Jack"? All right, I'm already back ten years. Meanwhile, during this same period Williams proved far better in serious dramatic roles: "The Final Cut," "Insomnia," "One Hour Photo," "Good Will Hunting." I'm not sure what to make of this, except that 2007's "License to Wed" continues the trend.

In this presumably romantic comedy, he plays the Reverend Frank, an unorthodox pastor, to say the least. People seem trust him with their personal lives, although the story shows us nothing that would support their faith in him. He is, in fact, pretty creepy.

A young couple, Ben Murphy (John Krasinski) and Sadie Jones (Mandy Moore), go to Rev. Frank to marry them. They go to him because Rev. Frank has been the pastor in the Jones family since as long as anybody can remember. He's more like a faithful family friend than a minister, and good marriages are a part of Rev. Frank's business. Or so he says.

Reverend Frank agrees to marry Ben and Sadie in three weeks, but on one condition: The young couple must participate in a marriage preparation course, the main rule of which is "no sex until the honeymoon." Since Ben and Sadie have been living together for some time, this is a major obstacle they need to overcome. The rest the rules are even harder.

Apparently, the filmmakers' plan was to take a non-funny script, hand it to the improvisational Williams, and let him inject some much-needed life into it. Unfortunately, not even the talented Mr. Williams could make a silk purse out of this sow's ear, and the pedestrian guidance of director Ken Kwapis ("The Beautician and the Beast," "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants") does nothing to help matters.

Let me give you some idea of what I'm talking about: Rev. Frank makes sexual innuendoes at every turn, even to his youthful Sunday School class, but as the movie bears a PG-13 rating, they are never risqué enough to be outrageous or shocking or zany. When folks are late to church, the Reverend embarrasses them from the pulpit. As a part of the pre-marriage program, the Reverend gathers couples together in the back of a bar and teaches them to argue effectively by yelling and screaming at each another. Then he encourages these couples to fight with their future in-laws. When verbal abuse fails to get a laugh, the script resorts to hitting people in the face with baseballs, stepping on people's feet, or simply having people fall down. Honestly, these feeble attempts at humor are rather pathetic.

To keep an eye on Ben and Sadie, the Reverend goes so far as to bug their apartment and then sit outside in a van with his assistant and protégé (Josh Flitter), listening in on their intimate conversations and nighttime activities. Besides this operation being illegal, it's perverted.