Happy Ever Afters (2009)

This is a straight ahead British romantic comedy (ok, in this case, it is Irish, but the genre is similar), so if you do not enjoy this genre, steer clear of this movie. I have a weakness for the genre generally, and I am particularly fond of both the British and the French take on the subject. Just so my biases are know up front. There are two parallel weddings in this movie, and we see each of them progress until they meet at the place where they are both having their receptions. There are a lot of improbable things that happen along the way, but there are some truths hidden under slapstick comedy, that are delivered in a palatable way. Sally Hawkins (who I especially liked in 'Made in Dagenham') is the star of this show. She plays Maura, a single mother who is fending off the wolves at the door and parenting her charming (but mouthy) daughter. The movie opens with their furniture being repossessed and an eviction notice being served as she goes out the door to her wedding to Wilson. It turns out that she is marrying not for love, but for money. Wilson is an illegal immigrant about to be deported, so she is giving him a means to stay while getting to keep her house. The heart wrenching part is that Maura's daughter really thinks she is going to get a dad out of this deal and is none-too-happy to learn otherwise. A child who is so desperate to have a father that she is demoralized that a stranger will not fill the role tells you something about the lives of single parent children. The other story is equally instructive--a couple who are marrying for the second time because their first marriage failed and they are looking to fix that, to have a second chance...but for no good reason. They love each other, but they are not friends. It is just a disaster waiting to happen that everyone can see but them. Unfortunately, these things do happen. So amidst all the accidental punches and improbably overlaps between the two weddings there are some kernals of truth about relationships that are easy to swallow in this comedic vehicle.