Second-Hand Wedding is a delightful comedy about a mother-daughter relationship. Directed by Paul Murphy, it is set in an ideal coastal town, somewhere in the Land of the Long White Cloud. It’s a place where there seems to be no traffic jams, plenty of fresh air and the only thing cluttering peoples’ lives is their possessions, and in the case of the Rose family, a helluva lot of clutter, which is the result of the matriarch’s insatiable desire for a bargain.
The thoroughly likeable mother, Jill Rose (Geraldine Brophy) has a day job. She is the deputy of the local high school. However, most of her spare time is spent hunting for bargains which are found at garage sales and fetes. Let’s face it, what else is there to do, apart from look at the scenery? She zooms around the neighbourhood in her mini, accompanied by her ditzy gal-pal, Muffy (Tina Regtien). The two women are very different and yet they compliment one another and they don’t compete for their bargains.
Jill also has an obsession with John Rowles (whom you may remember was New Zealand’s answer to Tom Jones) and is always on the lookout for his albums, just the kind of black vinyl that turns up now and again in garage sales. The Rowles gag runs throughout the film and makes for a hilarious moment for those who do remember him. Suffice to say he can still croon along with the best of them!
Jill’s long-suffering husband Brian (Patrick Wilson) is used to the clutter and in fact takes pleasure in keeping the kettle on the boil, which is his way of keeping the lid on the chaos that ensues. As the date of their daughter Cheryl’s (Holly Shanahan) wedding approaches, Jill finds herself left out of the arrangements. Cheryl has decided that she does not want her mother to get involved in the plans for fear of the celebration becoming a second-hand nightmare. Instead she engages Sugarpuff (Tina Cook), who is basically the friend from hell and who has too much time on her hands.
There are gentle, funny moments in this film and the humour is pretty parochial, but somehow it works. As the story rolls along, we find out that Cheryl has got herself into a deep bind, which will more than likely mean that the wedding day will turn out to be a disaster after all. The nice part about this drama is that no-one raises their voices, not in anger anyway. You’ll just have to see for yourself how they deal with a situation which would have an American actor shrieking at 100 decibels.
There’s something unique about the way this script deals with family, friendship and love, which eventually conquers all. There are some cringe-making moments with some of the performances. However, it is a fun 98 minutes and just the type of yarn you’d expect from such an idyllic place, a place where you’re more likely to find a second hand garden gnome, than a hobbit.
// SALT
On New Zealand’s North Island coast, Rose and Brian are the happily married parents of Cheryl. Rose is a cheery woman whose ample heart is dwarfed only by her compulsive desire to squirrel bargains from garage sales. When Cheryl and gorgeous Stew announce their wedding, Rose is kept in the dark fearing that she will ruin the day with a cut-price reception. “Even my name is second hand,” sobs Cheryl, referring to a 1970’s hit song. When Rose inevitably finds out, worlds collapse. Can Cheryl get out of the hole she’s dug for herself?
Of course she can. Director Paul Murphy’s not one for straying very far from formula in that regard, or many others. For most of its runtime, Second Hand Wedding feels like a feel-good, comedy episode of TV’s Shortland Street and completely fails to work up a single cinematic moment. Pitched directly at 40+ audiences, preferably those with a fondness for Kiwi crooner John Rowles, Murphy serves up a roundhouse of family clichés wrapped in a pretty bow.
And in this sense Second Hand Wedding achieves what it set out to do. Here is an undemanding movie, perfect for entertaining undemanding mothers on long, wet, winters afternoons. Sometimes, that’s just what you need.
// COLIN FRASER
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