The Engagement DVD Review

The Engagement

Review By: Kelsey Zukowski
Starring: Andy Gershenzan, Tenique Mathieo, BernNadette Stanis Directed By: Ytasha Womack
Release date: 4/8/2008
Grade: C-

The Engagement is a film about a couple in love and the questioning of whether or not they can get through this point to make it to their actual marriage. They have a wonderful relationship until that question is popped. This type of plot where meeting the family seems to be the most destructive thing to a relationship has almost became a sub-genre of romantic comedies. This has been done in License to Wed, Guess Who?, Meet the Parents, and even in Just Married, the only difference there is that they were actually married when it all started to fall apart. The Engagement falls somewhere in the middle as far as quality goes. It is far from great, many things hurt the movie more than they help it. Still, it is enjoyable, partially because half of the story and characters were done right while the other half weren’t.

Mia Clark (Mathieo) and David Weinstein (Gershenzan) are a recently engaged couple. Everything should be perfect and it is until their families meet each other. They come from very different backgrounds. Mia is an African-American Baptist while David is a Jewish Caucasian. Mia’s family knew about these differences, but David put off telling his mother anything about his relationship, even that they already have a son together. The families begin to clash as all of this information comes out at the engagement party that David’s mother insists on hosting. Beyond the initial surprise, a big conflict becomes whether the wedding will be a Jewish or a Baptist ceremony. To the families this is all that matters when neither David or Mia are all that religious and haven’t practiced their religion much. Yet this is the thing that nearly tears them apart.

Mia’s family, the Clarks, and even her character in itself were far better than David’s character and his family. I really didn’t like David’s mother. She was loud, rude, controlling, and self centered. Obviously, she is supposed to be causing the conflict. This could have come up in a far less annoying way though. Maybe it is part of this typical antagonist role though as Robin Williams made License to Wed much worse than it would have otherwise been if it wasn’t for this same quality. The thing is though, that she is later made to seem more sympathetic and it doesn’t change my thoughts on her at all. At least the father is more laid back and towards the end he does spout some words of wisdom. There is a gay cousin in the family who is made to be as obscure as possible. He has his moments, but for the most part he is a bit overdone. Not to mention David's white wannabe black brother who is decked out in chrome teeth and bling bling.

Andy Gershenzan doesn’t do all that well with David. He really isn’t brought to life as a character. You still cheer for Mia and him to be together, but it would be nice if we could see more compassion or depth to him. Tenique Mathieo does better as Mia. Although, you couldn’t always identify with her you could still see where she was coming from. She was a strong woman who wanted to keep her pride, her love, and her family. Neither side of the family was completely in the right, but her side attempted to be more civilized.

There were some interesting sub-plots in the movie particularly those regarding the Clarks. Mia’s aunt had previously been in a relationship with her husband’s brother. This was many years ago though, but her brother-in-law just can’t let go of this. The woman that he did end up marrying died and he has been in a miserable drunk state trying to crawl back to his past relationship. This causes jealousy and sibling rivalry when he tries to hit on her again. The family becomes ashamed, but also helps them realize that each family has flaws. Having the strength to see past those flaws and embrace each other is what unites the family. Two people from each side of the family do quickly get along. One is Mia’s cousin and the other is one of David’s close friends. They are able to talk like they have been buddies their whole lives. The sub-plots make the film much better. Especially the one regarding Mia’s quarreling uncles. Their histories are shown as well as their strengths and weaknesses of what they are feeling.

Almost the entire story is based at this engagement party. Things don’t seem to be going that well, but in all honesty there are a lot of major over reactions from most of the characters. Some of the people from David’s side of the family could have benefited from having some background or something that they were dealing with. The Jewish vs. Baptist thing is a logical debate regarding the wedding. Yet almost the entire movie is an argument about this. There are also a number of stereotypes particularly targeted at the blacks. There are issues about whether whites and blacks should be married. Surprise of the situation is understandable, but they go beyond that to blow the situation out of proportion. In the end, The Engagement is a slightly below average film. Some of the characters are better than others, the plot only goes so far, but luckily there are some good side stories that explore emotions, relationships, and mind sets that help us through one very long engagement party.