Ferrell plays Jim, a single dad in Atlanta whose daughter, Jenni (the always-hilarious Geraldine Viswanathan), announces she’s getting married to her college sweetheart Oliver (Stony Blyden). A widower since Jenni was a little girl, Jim is a “girl dad” the way some men are “wife guys”: His life revolves around Jenni, and they’re the best of friends. She is all he has, and once he adjusts to the idea of her getting married, he starts to get excited about the wedding. What if they got married at the same inn on the same tiny island where he and her mother tied the knot? Maybe on June 1?
Meanwhile, across the country, the TV producer Margot (Witherspoon) discovers to her delight that her little sister, Neve (Meredith Hagner), is engaged to her beloved Dixon (Jimmy Tatro). Margot isn’t on great terms with the rest of the family — their other two siblings (Rory Scovel and Leanne Morgan) and their mother (Celia Weston), all of whom are genteel Southerners — but she’s determined to plan the wedding anyhow. Wouldn’t it be great if they could have it on the tiny island where Margot and Neve spent summers with their grandmother? Maybe on June 1?
And thus the gears of the rom-com are set in motion, with Jim and Margot fated to meet-cute. Of course we know what will occur; the fun is seeing how it occurs, in this case with a combination of comedy of errors and comedy of manners. Along the way, drunk speeches are delivered, profanities are hurled, dirty jokes are told, lessons are learned — about family togetherness, about being a control freak, about not judging people without knowing them — and at least one alligator is wrestled. (There’s the surrealist swerve.) Naturally, love is also in the air.
All good, when the formula is the point. But there is something off about “You’re Cordially Invited,” some sense that the whole thing never clicks into place. There are sections (particularly in a sequence taking place at a wedding rehearsal) that feel as if a scene or two were lifted out. Continuity does not feel completely settled — how did that guy get to that room? Why is it sunny out now? What is this side character’s deal?
Perhaps most disappointingly, while Witherspoon has her tightly wound but good-hearted big sister thing down perfectly, it doesn’t seem as if Ferrell’s full comedic genius makes it onto the screen. It’s not the fault of his character; the sweet but somewhat bizarre guy fits him well. But there are moments when you can see his impish flair for improvisation shine through, and these moments highlight how little time he gets to let loose — or, at least, how little of it made it into the final cut.
