Wedding DVD

A Wedding
Robert Altman's over-frenetic satire on American marriage rituals and hypocrisy concerns the upper-crust marriage between Dino Corelli (Desi Arnaz Jr.) and Muffin Brenner (Amy Stryker). As the film begins, a senile bishop forgets the lines to the wedding ceremony and Nettie Sloan (the groom's grandmother) drops dead in an upstairs bedroom. Nettie's death is not disclosed to the two families who converge at the wedding reception. As the two sets of in-laws slam into each other, the bride and groom disappear in the ensuing whirlwind of chaos as both extended families vie for sexual favors and try to keep hidden never-discussed family secrets. Regina Corelli (Nina Van Pallandt) is revealed to be a drug addict, while Luigi, is endeavoring unsuccessfully to keep his Mafia connections under wraps. Meanwhile, the bride's family, although more down to earth, are revealed to be no better. Tulip Brenner (Carol Burnett) begins to flirt with one of the wedding guests, Mackenzie Goddard (Pat McCormick), while Snooks Brenner (Paul Dooley) acts like a lout and drinks heavily. And flying around the edges of the action like Tinkerbell is Buffy Brenner, the Brenners' youngest daughter, who is pregnant by the groom. As other characters bang into each other -- sexual degenerates, hard-nosed radicals, raw-boned emotional wrecks -- the wedding reception heads for its inevitable nuclear explosion. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

Cast Carol Burnett as Tulip Brenner Mia Farrow as Buffy Brenner Paul Dooley as Snooks Brenner Lillian Gish as Nettie Sloan Amy Stryker as Muffin Brenner Howard Duff as Dr. Jules Meecham Geraldine Chaplin as Rita Billingsley Dennis Christopher as Hughie Brenner Lauren Hutton as Florence Farmer Gerald Busby as David Ruteledge Peggy Ann Garner as Candice Ruteledge Vittorio Gassman as Luigi Corelli Desi Arnaz, Jr. as Dino Corelli Dina Merrill as Antoinette Sloan Goddard Pat McCormick as Mackenzie Goddard John Cromwell as Bishop Martin John Considine as Jeff Kuykendall Viveca Lindfors as Ingrid Hellstrom Robert Fortier as Jim Habor Bert Remsen as William Williamson Ellie Albers as Gypsy Violinist

Crew Scott Bushnell - Associate Producer Bob Dahlin - First Assistant Director Tommy Thompson - First Assistant Director Peter L. Bergquist - First Assistant Director Robert Altman - Director Tony Lombardo - Editor Tommy Thompson - Executive Producer Tom Waits - Composer (Music Score) John Hotchkis - Composer (Music Score) Charles Rosher Jr. - Cinematographer Robert Altman - Producer Tommy Thompson - Producer Jim Webb - Sound/Sound Designer Jim Stuebe - Sound/Sound Designer Chris McLaughlin - Sound/Sound Designer Patricia Resnick - Screenwriter Robert Altman - Screenwriter Allan Nicholls - Screenwriter John Considine - Screenwriter

A Wedding
Shot in sequence and in the director's typical improvisatory manner (and with a cast of characters that, in numbers, dwarfs even his own Nashville), Robert Altman's A Wedding is an uneven and ultimately unsatisfying satire by one of America's most idiosyncratic filmmakers. In the earlier Nashville, Altman was able to meld the many disparate story lines and characters into a film that was cohesive and delivered a devastating punch. He doesn't pull that off here, instead gathering together a bunch of people that certainly have a surface reason to be together but which don't really have a thematic connection -- other than the thin, unexplored idea of "exposing" the hypocrisy attendant in such social situations. Without any kind of real narrative glue, A Wedding comes across as merely a series of vignettes, although some of them are tremendously entertaining. There are enough of the visual and aural Altman signatures to keep film students on their toes; the writers and cast have certainly come up with a number of memorable lines and moments; and, as in most Altman group extravaganzas, the cast knows how to deliver the goods. As a result, there's enough to keep A Wedding chugging along nicely for the first hour or so, but it starts to run out of gas even before the disappointing climax. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
 

Carol Burnett: Golden Globe, Best Supporting Actress (nominated)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French, Spanish Subtitle Options: English, Spanish Sound Processing: DDS: Dolby Digital Surround DD1: Dolby Digital Mono Additional Features: A Wedding: Altman Style featurette DVD Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1: Cinemascope MPAA Rating: PG DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: 1 Content Length: 125 min   DVD Chapters: Disc #1 -- A Wedding 1. Main Titles [4:35] 2. A Wedding [4:09] 3. Awaiting the Wedding Party [4:54] 4. Mrs. Sloan Passing [3:46] 5. Culture Clash [3:23] 6. The Throne [4:59] 7. Death Under Wraps [7:12] 8. More Pills for Mrs. Hellstrom [1:51] 9. The Receiving Line [5:57] 10. You Can't Plan Everything [4:15] 11. The Secret Is Out [6:41] 12. I Love You, Tulip [5:43] 13. Skeletons [2:18] 14. Briggs and Tracy [5:59] 15. The Gift Room [4:55] 16. Remembering Love [2:52] 17. A Storm Is Brewing [3:51] 18. Ladies' Room [2:38] 19. Life and Death [5:01] 20. Heavenly Sunlight [2:34] 21. The Arrival of Dino Corelli I [5:33] 22. Family Meetings [5:18] 23. Daddy's Little Angel [3:28] 24. Misunderstanding [4:57] 25. Just Married [4:02] 26. Accident [5:45] 27. Atonement and Freedom [3:48] 28. When It's Over/End Titles [4:08]