Table 19

This was a frustrating movie in so many senses of the word. Its failure both critically and commercially hardly resonates as any sort of big deal, don't get me wrong, and it's not so much frustrating that a movie like this should have been better as it is that this movie could have so easily been so much better. Let's quickly highlight the elements that work.

For one, there's a good assembly of people here! Not a star-studded cast by any stretch, but it's a great mix of recognizable character actors and TV people. From left to right on that poster alone we've got Stephen Merchant (Ricky Gervais' number two man, Hello Ladies), Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Spider-Man: Homecoming), June Squibb, Craig Robinson, Anna Kendrick, and Lisa Kudrow. Not pictured here are the guy from Everybody Wants Some and the virtual reality haunted house episode of Black Mirror, Monica from Silicon Valley, Hannah's mom from Girls, or Andy Daly. Oh, or how about the voice of Margo Martindale? The screenplay comes courtesy of the Duplass brothers. Just lots of people I enjoy seeing get work, really. No one here to root against, and plenty of people to appreciate.

Okay, for another thing, the premise here was clever and seemed easy enough to pull off. If you've seen any trailers for this one, you already know it, but just in case, here it goes. A group of strangers get shafted to the "misfit" table at a wedding. They're all cold and annoyed at first, but over the course of the next four to eight hours, wouldn't you know it, there's a Breakfast Club type bonding as they come to know each other as more than just "the couple with a failing marriage" and "the old lady" and "the overeager kid playing way out of his league trying to hook up with someone tonight."

Except... they never really get there. The movie ends with them having arrived there, the last six people on the dance floor, richer for having experienced each other and the evening, but that's not really the same thing, you know? They're just sort of cold and awkward at first, and Anna Kendrick's character is going through some shit, and once they all realize her history with the bride and the best man they sort of collectively console and comfort and support her, and then all go off to hang out together and smoke some weed and comment on what a beautiful day it is. There's no real farce. There's no real drama.

And, worst of all but rather predictably, there's no real comedy. It's a cute enough movie, a fun enough movie, but it's completely forgettable, completely happy to just go through the motions without a single memorable scene or sequence, no quotable lines, no zany back and forth dialogue that really sings. It's absolutely disposable and forgettable. And there's nothing wrong with that, and I can't say it's a bad movie, but again, to circle back and bring this home, it's a movie that so easily could have been a better movie.

I haven't even touched on all the weird holes in the script and the way the bride-groom-best man-Anna Kendrick-maid of honor polygon doesn't work at all, but who cares? Certainly not you! My apologies, and thanks for making it this far.