FILM REVIEW: JENNY'S WEDDING

Jenny (Katherine Heigl) and Kitty (Alexis Bledel) in Jenny's Wedding.

Wind between the ears

By Miranda Inganni

Jenny (Katherine Heigl) is tired of dodging questions from her parents and siblings about her romantic life. After being pushed to lie one too many times, she finally decides to tell her parents that not only is she a lesbian, but that she wants to marry Kitty (Alexis Bledel), her “roommate” of five years. Predictable reactions from her family ensue.

Mom and Dad (Linda Emond and Tom Wilkinson) are disappointed and confused; what did they do to cause her to be like this? But like all of their concerns, Dad tries to sweep it under the rug, or covers as the case may be with the parents’ many bedtime talks, and Mom gossips with her best friend, Ellen (Diana Hardcastle). Essentially, both Mom and Dad feel like Jenny is trying to change their lives by being gay. They cannot accept that Jenny wants a big wedding and would prefer that she just keep things quiet (initially not even telling her siblings). Her parents perpetuate the lie about Jenny’s romances to their friends and colleagues, but continue to blame themselves and each other for this “failure.”

Meanwhile, Jenny's sister, Anne (Grace Gummer), having convinced herself that Jenny has always been mom and dad’s favorite, distances herself even more from her sister now that she knows her unspeakable truth. Big brother Michael (Matthew Metzger), on the other hand, couldn’t care less about who his sister marries and has known since high school that Jenny wasn’t into boys. (Why, oh why, then does he continually force awkward introductions between her and his single friends)

In the scene that proved to be cathartic for Jenny, she and her father finally have words. Loud words. In a funeral home. Jenny draws a line in the sand. It does not end well for familial ties, but Jenny asserts her independence and (finally!) realizes that she has to live her life the way she wants to.

Written, directed and produced by Mary Agnes Donoghue -- perhaps best known for having penned that 1988 tearjerker, Beaches --it’s as if Donoghue cannot get out of her own way and tell the story in a more organic way. It feels at times that Donoghue was trying to make a lesbian coming out movie aimed at Middle America, which is why it ends up diluted on impact. All of the acting is fine (though Bledel is underutilized), but the heavy-handed soundtrack is overused to dictate emotion -- and also reassure viewers that everything will be just fine.