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Father of the Bride Movie Review

Father of the Bride is a 1950 comedy film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Bennett. It is a wonderful movie.

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“And then the day comes when she gets her first permanent wave

and goes to her first real party, and from that day on,

you’re in a constant state of panic“

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The film is about the travails and joys of a harassed well-to-do father as he experiences his only daughter’s expensive wedding. This movie was nominated for three Oscars in big categories and it was a huge box-office hit, and it’s easy to see why it was so respected. It has its flaws, but it’s such a beautiful movie fueled by unexpected strong whirlwind of emotions that it definitely felt timeless in approach.

I respect Spencer Tracy, but I find both of his Oscar wins in the thirties highly underserved. He should have won for this movie as this is undoubtedly his career-best turn. What he did here was incredible and honestly he was perfectly cast as none of the other previous choices would have been as good. He eclipses all the other actors here. Joan Bennett is quite solid and Elizabeth Taylor is lovely as always, but it is Tracy who pulls off the most emotionally complex, deepest role and is the best reason to see this film overall.

My issue with Father of the Bride is exactly stemming from its strength – it is so dependent on Tracy’s Stanley that the others felt underdeveloped and rushed. The husband character, for instance, is very forgettable. I wish that I cared more for this marriage and the people involved in it. This way, the movie was too limited in scope and almost stagey in a way.

That narration also did not help. I liked it to a degree, but it constrained the film way too much. The movie needed more cinematic qualities undoubtedly. Vincente Minnelli did a good job adapting the source material, but the project lacks his usual flair for thrilling technicalities.

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Still, simply seeing an early film deal so honestly with parenthood and in particular how a father may feel countless conflicting emotions during his daughter’s impending wedding was quite revolutionary for its time. The whole movie was just tender and sweet, thus it was an easy, charming watch to be had for sure.