Movie Review by Susan Hodgetts
Starring: Martin Freeman, Jessica Stevenson, Stephen Mangan, Jimmy Carr
Director: Debbie Isitt
CONFETTI brings a fresh, funny spin to a reality TV show concept where three couples compete to have the most original wedding and win a house, donated as a prize by the Confetti wedding magazine. An ensemble comedy cast make this not only full of laughs, but empathy too.
Matt and Samantha (Martin Freeman and Jessica Stevenson) want a big Busby Berkeley, Hollywood MGM musical wedding, but unfortunately they can’t seem to stop the mother-in-law and sister interfering; Josef and Isabelle (GREEN WING’s Stephen Mangan, and Meredith MacNeill) are tennis pros obsessed with winning every competition; and Michael and Joanna (PEEP SHOW’s Robert Webb, and Olivia Colman) just want to let it all hang out at their naturist wedding. Confetti magazine’s owner (Jimmy Carr), a character who just seems to have come up with the competition because he needed amusement, and the editor (Felicity Montagu) orchestrate over not just the couples but the two gay professional wedding planners Heron and Hough (Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins), who struggle to deal with the artistic highs and volatile lows of their vocation. But will the couples themselves still be speaking by the time it all comes together?
Completely improvised from director Debbie Isitt’s original idea, Isitt and her editor Nicky Agar have skilfully managed to hone a whopping 150 hours of footage into a well-constructed, well-rounded plot which grapples with the stresses, strains and emotions leading up to The Big Day with warmth, humour, emotion and empathy. The two wedding planners in particular are hilarious as they struggle to mix their artistic fervour with the challenge of pleasing their rather difficult clients.
