The Wedding Ringer 2015

Wesley Morris, Grantland: The Wedding Ringer feels spat out for people who love Katherine Heigl movies but wish that Eddie Murphy were in her role instead. Read more

Sara Stewart, New York Post: Hart is such a skilled comic - his lightning-fast riffs are almost always funny, even when they're in the midst of hateful dreck like this - that I can't believe he can't talk his way into better material. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: For all [its] assets, "The Wedding Ringer" ultimately flattens out in all-too-familiar ways ... Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Not since Wild Hogs, perhaps, has a comedy so repeatedly insisted that there's nothing funnier than the thought of two men touching each other. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Screenwriters Jeremy Garelick and Jay Lavender don't even try to make the premise seem plausible; rather, they use it as a springboard for screwball complications and verbal humor. Read more

Adam Graham, Detroit News: Hart is laser-focused and in-the-moment, and is consistently better than everything around him. He and Gad have the makings of a Will Smith and Kevin James in "Hitch" thing going on, but the script doesn't allow them to explore that dynamic. Read more

Jason Clark, Entertainment Weekly: Unless your idea of the ultimate screen comedy is to witness how many different ways a fat guy can fall down in one film, you're probably better off breaking off this engagement. Read more

Jon Frosch, Hollywood Reporter: The whiff of stale leftovers ... hangs over the movie from start to finish. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: Too often the filmmakers go for cheap shots. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: What saves the film are its two leads, who aren't afraid to show their sensitive sides -- along with other parts of themselves. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: This isn't something anyone really needs to buy. It's OK, it'll do but - like Hart's character - it's strictly a rental. Read more

Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: By the time Jeremy Garelick's movie gets to the altar, it does hit a groove. But by then, the humor feels like stale champagne. Read more

Nicolas Rapold, New York Times: The director Jeremy Garelick, who wrote the script with Jay Lavender, takes the shortest route whenever possible, which usually means a gratuitous insult. Read more

Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer: I almost passed out, hyperventilating after uncontrollable bursts of hyena laughs. It took a full evening's rest for the ache to dissipate from the belly. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: The Wedding Ringer is imperfect but its imperfections are tolerable because they're accompanied by a dollop of drama, a measure of laughter, and an oversized helping of Kevin Hart. Read more

Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com: If you're at the multiplex in the middle of the afternoon, and "The Wedding Ringer" is the only movie playing at a time that's convenient, you won't be completely miserable. This is not exactly a ringing endorsement, I realize. Read more

Michael Ordona, San Francisco Chronicle: Whether gleefully treading where fools rush in or subjecting characters to surprising harm for laughs, the thing is funny; at times very funny. Read more

Kiva Reardon, Globe and Mail: Love hurts, but Jeremy Garelick's The Wedding Ringer is truly painful. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Squeezes out some weak laughs amid alternating scenes of gross behaviour and sickly sweet male bonding confessionals. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Sets you up to expect a comedy that's homophobic but not misogynistic; that it delivers the opposite counts as a surprise, albeit not an entirely satisfying one. Read more

Tom Huddleston, Time Out: The plot's old, the title's borrowed and the jokes are blue - but there's nothing remotely new in this wearying bromantic comedy. Read more

Jim Slotek, Toronto Sun: The Wedding Ringer is a soft-hearted bromance, albeit one dotted with moments of surprisingly out-there bad taste. Read more

Alan Scherstuhl, Village Voice: Hart rants, Gad fidgets, and together this pair barrels through the plot, shaping between them a surprisingly potent friendship. Read more

Bilge Ebiri, New York Magazine/Vulture: A mostly disposable, occasionally quite funny bromance distinguished at times by its earnestness. Read more