The Wedding Singer (1998)
February is the perfect time to watch a romantic comedy. If you're a fan of 1980s music, you'll fall in love with the soundtrack and story of The Wedding Singer. The movie was released in 1998, but the cast and crew successfully recaptured the atmosphere of the previous decade, right down to all the Madonna-inspired bracelets and the strangeness of seeing a DVD player for the first time.
Lead actors Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore have successfully paired up in more than one romantic comedy. In this film, their sweet, lovable characters are completely relatable. Sandler plays Robbie Hart, a small-town wedding singer who has just been stood up at the altar on his very own wedding day. Barrymore plays Julia Sullivan, a simple waitress at the reception hall where Robbie works. Julia is getting ready for her own wedding, but as the story develops, Robbie and Julia discover they're happiest when they're together.
The supporting cast adds laughs and talent. Linda, Robbie's ex-fiancée, comes across as two-faced and self-centered, but she also represents many women who would have concerns about marrying a man still living in the family basement. Compared to Glenn, who is Julia's fiancé, Robbie has little hope of attaining enough financial security to start a family. Glenn is an arrogant womanizer who enjoys his wealth, but, to be fair, he's also willing to share it with Julia, who has been with him for a long time, even before he became so rich.
Julia's cousin Holly and Robbie's friend Sammy are sources of support, but their characters also illustrate the stress of being single and searching for love. One of Sammy's most memorable scenes is when he admits that all he really wants is someone to hold him and tell him everything is going to be all right.
Another memorable character is Rosie, one of Robbie's music students. Rosie is taking singing lessons so that she can sing a love song to her husband at their 50th wedding anniversary. When Robbie hears Rosie perform, he suddenly realizes the importance of Julia's description of the ideal marriage: she wants to grow old with the man she loves. That's exactly what Rosie and her husband have done.
This story allows us to put practicality aside and cheer for the romantics that Robbie and Julia are. They aren't sure of the future, but they're sure about each other. In the end, don't we all just want to be loved...truly loved?
KEY VOCABULARY
soundtrack (countable noun) - the music played in a movie
recapture (verb) - If you recapture a moment, you recreate it.
relatable (adjective) - easy to understand and sympathize with
be stood up (verb) - be rejected by not showing up for a date or a wedding
altar (countable noun) - the place in front of a gathering where a religious ceremony takes place (usually with a table up on a platform)
two-faced (adjective) - not genuine
womanizer (countable noun) - a man who enjoys the company of many women, but doesn't really respect any of them
practicality (uncountable noun) - the sensible thing to do
