Sione’s Wedding

What Sarah said:

It’s been a while since I last watched this but from what I can remember it’s entertaining and funny. Not a complex story to follow along with but it’s told from a NZ/Samoan point of view which adds to its charm. I want to watch it again, so you will have to watch it with me. It is such an iconic New Zealand movie and I wonder how much of the humour and charm is appreciated by non-kiwis or does too much of it need explanation.

Mike’s verdict:

Sione’s Wedding is complete nonsense. It’s not deep. It’s not complex. It’s not even believable – there cannot possibly be real people who act like the four main characters, and the supporting roles are somehow even less realistic. The situations are contrived, the personal interactions are implausible, and the narrative is confusing. The plot certainly includes plenty of surprises, but only because there is no way for a reasonable audience to anticipate nonsense.

The film is an extension of the traditional buddy comedy film, with four buddies instead of two, and at times it’s difficult to keep track of why everyone is upset with everyone else. It feels as if the writers tried to make a feature-length film based on a four-minute improve skit, and only realized the trouble they were in after they had already taken their investors’ money. That said, they must not have needed much of a budget considering the simplicity of the sets – the most realistic aspect of the film is how plain everything looks. The characters are all bonkers, but they seem to exist in the real world.

Unfortunately, much of this criticism is likely due to my two-degrees of cultural separation. This is not a movie intended for North American audiences at all; so much of it is specific to the Samoan cultural experience as it exists in New Zealand (probably?). Even following the dialog was difficult given the accents and the fact that Kiwis use words that don’t exist anywhere else.

It’s likely unfair of me to try to align the film with Hollywood from my outsider point-of-view, but since that is what I do… Sione’s Wedding is a little bit Dumb and Dumber, a little bit Step-Brothers, and probably some Planes, Trains and Automobiles too. And why not? Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell, Leslie Nielsen, and countless others have made entire careers out of nonsense.

The film is a silly and entertaining way to spent an hour and 30 minutes. Maybe it is meant to be more than that, but it’s certainly not less.

7/10

The Menu

What Mitchell said:

I think you would like the movie The Menu. I really like how it examines the absurdity of haute cuisine and I think you would appreciate that as well. And weirdly, I would have liked to try that meal, except for the dessert.

What Jeff said:

Forget [Mitchell’s] review!

Mike’s verdict:

I’m very glad that I didn’t know anything more about the film beyond what Mitchell said – a lot of the charm comes from scenes that could be easily spoiled by knowing the premise ahead of time. So if you haven’t already seen it, stop reading now and come back after.

The Menu is an absurd, and a fantastically irreverent, criticism of anyone who can afford to be taken in by the delusion of “haute cuisine”. Serving a commentary on class conflict, the film marries the flavours of Carnage, The Cabin in the Woods, and a dash of Sideways – each delicately combined and spread atop a thin Saw wafer. It’s ridiculous and a lot of fun.

The casting makes an interesting ensemble of unlikeable side characters who collectively meet all of the stereotypes for patrons of gourmet restaurants: the washed-up actor and his unhappy assistant, the creepy old business man and his clueless wife (Judith Light is most definitely not the boss this time), the insufferably pretentious food critic and her high-flown editor, and the trio of arrogant finance boys who actually use the phrase “Do you know who we are?”.

Ralph Fiennes does a good job as the head villain chef too (though it’s still hard to see him and not think of Voldemort anyway), and Anya Taylor-Joy is quite believable as the scrapy under-dog hero. Her final play for survival is a cleverly satisfying way to resolve the story. The only mis-step is Nicholas Hoult‘s character whose choices are simply confusing.

Overall, The Menu is an entertaining way to poke fun at people who like plates of foam.

8/10