Reviews for Destination Wedding are starting to appear.
-Anne Cohen reviewed Destination Wedding for Refiner29. Overall it was a positive review. A few quotes are below.
Written and directed by Victor Levin, the film has a distinctly Nancy Meyers vibe to it, with long, panning shots of beautiful vineyards, a quaint boutique hotel, and lots of fancy wine. But what saves this from being a knock-off is that the characters are so distinctly un-Meyers. They don’t fit into this gorgeous setting. It’s like sticking two vampires on a tropical beach.
But that’s the draw. Ryder and Reeves, who have starred together twice before, in 1992’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula and 2006’s A Scanner Darkly, are Hollywood weirdos, and watching them interact is a delight. They’re so clearly enjoying snipping at each other with the most creative of insults that it’s impossible not to want to be in on the joke.
The fact that Frank and Lindsay are accepting of each other’s intimacy and commitment issues is a fresh twist on an old trope. Neither wants the other to change; they crave emotional release, but only with each other.
-MaryAnn Johanson reviewed the film for Flick Filosopher and gave it 4/5 stars. A few quotes are below.
Oh man do I love Destination Wedding, dark, bitter bonbon of an anti-romcom from writer-director Victor Levin.
Destination Wedding is so marvelously unromantic, so beautifully catty and witty, and so ultimately — and as reluctantly as Frank and Lindsay — warm and embracing of damaged people.
-Raymond Johnston reviewed the film for Prague TV. On Keanu, he said the following:
But he can act when given a chance. The character of the ever cynical man who has a dark comment for every situation is surprisingly tailor made for him. The awkward standoffish nature that was a drawback in some of his action roles is an asset for the reluctant and trapped party guest.
Mr. Johnston concludes with the following:
Destination Wedding is a minor film, and does have the ambiance of a TV movie rather than something for the big screen. But the mostly clever writing and natural performances make it worth catching if you have had enough summer action and want something more based in characters.
-Kate Erbland reviewed the film for IndieWire and gave it a B. She closes with the following:
A strange event at the sunset wedding pushes Frank and Lindsay into goofy territory, though Reeves and Ryder are so appealing that they almost make it work. It also breeds the film’s best sequence, in which the pair basically litigates their maybe-romance from the confines of a hotel bed filled with expensive minibar snacks. It’s the kind of conversation not often heard in rom-coms — wait, is this what falling in love is actually like? — and the raw honesty, smashed up against their unexpected bond, proves satisfying. Maybe this is what falling in love is like, and it’s high time that rom-coms had the space for weirdos like these.
-Benjamin Lee reviewed the film for The Guardian and gave it 3/5 stars. On chemistry and Keanu, the following was said:
The pair share an easy, spiky chemistry and Reeves in particular shows himself to be surprisingly skilled at delivering such bile-filled dialogue.
-Leah Greenblatt reviewed the film for Entertainment Weekly and gave it a C+.
-Robert Kojder reviewed the film for Flickering Myth. The review was negative.
-Stephen Whitty reviewed the film for Film Journal. The review was negative.