Table 19

source: Table 19

Greetings again from the darkness. Writer/director Jeffrey Blitz (Spellbound) takes the approach that many wedding guests would prefer – he skips the wedding and heads straight to the reception. Another wise move by the filmmaker is assembling a very talented ensemble of funny folks. This cast proves they can wring a laugh from dialogue and moments that would probably otherwise not elicit much of an audience reaction. Instead, the full house on this evening had quite boisterous responses on numerous occasions. The initial set-up drags a bit as we are introduced to the characters that will soon enough populate Table 19 at the reception. Tony Revolori (The Grand Budapest Hotel bellhop) is Renzo, the longing for love (or anything similar) high schooler who might be a bit too close to his mother (voiced by the great Margo Martindale). Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson are the Kepp's, a mostly unhappily married couple who own and run a diner together. June Squibb is Jo, the bride's long-forgotten nanny who sees and knows more than most. Stephen Merchant plays the outcast nephew/cousin who has been recently released from his prison sentence for white collar crime. Lastly we have Anna Kendrick as Eloise, the fired maid of honor and former girlfriend of the bride's brother (Wyatt Russell), who also happens to be the best man and now dating the new maid of honor. This is the island of misfit wedding guests known as Table 19, and purposefully placed in the back corner as far as possible from the family and favored guests. Of course we know immediately that this Team Reject will unite for some uplifting purpose at some point, and the movie improves immediately once that goal has been revealed. Comedic timing in a group setting can often come across on screen as forced, and it's a tribute to the cast that these characters come across as human and real. Make no mistake though, this is Anna Kendrick's movie. She plays Eloise as we would imagine Anna Kendrick in this real life situation. Sure, a wedding reception is low-hanging fruit for comedy, but it's the third act where Ms. Kendrick's talent really shines. Comedy drawn from emotional pain is the most fulfilling because we've all been there. The melodrama that creeps in is pretty predictable, but that doesn't mean it's not a good time. The scenes with Ms. Kendrick and Wyatt Russell (Everybody Wants Some!, and Kurt and Goldie's son) are the best, and it leaves us wishing for more attention to both. Don't worry, the film features the required wedding cake mishap, a flirtatious wedding crasher (Thomas Cocquerel) and a drunken mother of the bride singing karaoke to Etta James' "At Last". It's designed to be a crowd-pleaser, and mostly succeeds with a nice blend of silly, cute, and emotional tugs.

The Duplass brothers, writers of the comedy Table 19, have always had a dry sense of humor (Cyrus, Jeff Who Lives at Home); here they make you parched with slow dialogue from lack of wit. Yet along the way their story is laced with heart no more evident than the warm misfits placed at the wedding's most dismissible table. Heading the notoriously neglected is Eloise (Anna Kendrick), the former bridesmaid jettisoned by the bride's brother before the ceremony. However, plucky El goes to the reception to confront her ex, support her oldest friend, and eventually meet charming table mates who spend some time upstairs smoking weed. The heart manifests itself in gentle Walter (Stephan Merchant), who is on release from prison; diminutive romantic Renzo (Tony Revolori), who just wants to "get laid"; Jerry (Craig Robinson) and Bina Kepp (Lisa Kudrow), who need marriage counseling and a better reason for their roles being in a comedy; and Jo (June Squibb), whose pot they are using and whose post as a former nanny gives her license to drag out the usual old-person's philosophy. Because these stereotypical outsiders are so lovable, the audience, who clapped at the end, seemed to forgive them for the flat dialogue and laughed mostly at their gratuitous pratfalls. In the end, nothing was worthy of the belly laughs found in Wedding Crashers or Bridesmaids. It's the dumping ground time of year for movies, and Table 19 fits the profile of a mediocre film thrown out at the beginning of the year because the suits don't want to chew up valuable space as the year progresses Yet, that heart—you do feel affection for the eccentric characters and pity they have so little to say. Come to think of it, they are the victims of banal writing and as characters deserve to be at the infamous holding pen for undesirables, a bit like immigrants caught in political maneuvering. Table 19 is not the worst comedy to be released at this time of year.

I really hated this film. There. BOOM. Got it off my chest. It all starts so promisingly, with a scene of Anna Kendrick ("The Accountant", who can be a very good actress) rejecting a wedding invitation; then accepting it; then burning it; then blowing it out; then posting it. I laughed. This was a rarity. There are about five more smile-worthy moments in the movie, most of which are delivered by Stephen Merchant. Anna plays Eloise who was SUPPOSED to be maid-of-honour at her best friend's wedding, but then broke up - messily - with her brother (the best man). She stubbornly attends the wedding in a posh hotel and finds herself on "Table 19" - a socially unfavourable location, full of a bunch of misfits that everyone expected to say "no" but didn't; a molly-coddled and awkward teen (Tony Revolori, "Spider-man: Homecoming") with the single goal of getting laid; "The Kepps" - a bickering married couple (Lisa Kudrow ("The Girl on the Train", "Friends") and Craig Robinson ("Hot Tub Time Machine")); a convicted fraudster serving his sentence in an open prison ( Stephen Merchant, "Logan") and a druggie former nanny of the bride (June Squibb, "In and Out"). The fundamental problem with the movie is that Jeffrey Blitz's script (he also directs) is not only not very funny, but it is so fundamentally focused on the greedy and needy nature of the table's American reprobates that at every turn it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Their motives are all utterly selfish and there's an "if we get away with it, then that's fine" attitude that pervades the plot. The nadir for me happens when - after trashing (albeit accidentally) a key part of the wedding they are attending, they cover their selfish backsides by (deliberately) trashing the same key part of another wedding going on in the same hotel. This is kind of positioned as a "revenge" sort of thing, but (in analysis) no wrong seems to have actually been done: its just another misunderstanding of the self-obsessed Eloise. The Kepp's story is also sad and selfish rather than comedic, and the resolution of this (and in fact all of the other sub-stories) for a nicely gift-wrapped ending is just saccharine and vomit-inducing. This is a wedding present that should have come with a label in big red writing:  "DO NOT OPEN". (For the graphical version please visit bob-the-movie-man.com or One Mann's Movies on Facebook. Thanks.)

I watched this film on an airplane, so at least I didn't feel like I had wasted an hour and a half of my life. It was poorly written with very few redeeming qualities. While it might not have been the single worst film I have ever seen, the single worst film I have ever seen had more of a plot than Table 19. Halfway through I started wondering when any of the main characters would demonstrate a single redeeming quality. Entirely, it was a stupid film and a waste of time. Don't bother.

I added this movie to my watchlist as an 'I like the actors in it, but I should watch this to fall asleep' kinda thing. Preparing for bed, yawning and tired, the movie begins. Intrigued, great acting, lots of smiling, and some major laughing out loud moments later... An hour and twenty seven minutes flew by so enjoyably that now I can't sleep. I'm annoyed by how good this movie is but I would say it's more for people who enjoy humor, prettily wrapped presents, and that weird feeling you get when you're all 'soft' on someone/something. Not boring. Not dark and twisty. Not zombies eating vampires. Not Trojans coming out of a horse. Don't know why reviewers are so set on looking for those things. *Eyeroll* Yes to romance, comedy, and feeling sad the movie ended because it's a 'feel good' while you're in it.

I hate this movie so much that it may be my first review on here, which is sad or a testament to how bad it it really is. No character development or even investment; you don't care about one person in it. The supposed developments feel cliché and shallow. I'm sad I wasted the time to watch it.

the film with that cast - Anna Kendrick, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson, Toni Revolori being some of my favorites - could really have been fun and truly enjoyable. But a good cast doesn't make a good script. I wonder how tailored each role is for the cast, I'm guessing apart from Anna's role not so much? Not sold on the bulk of the film / the main pairing much so that was particularly not enjoyable for me. However, June Squibb was lovely and Stephen Merchant was a welcome oddball (though the humor overall of the film doesn't really land). Conclusions for other story lines were not really satisfying and there was cheesiness all through out.

The awkwardness moment of going to a wedding and sitting in a table with other people that may or may not be close to the groom/bride and they chat about how they know them and if they are even being recognized or forgettable type of guests. Table 19 is terrible, it is unfunny, tries to be awkward and shine with the characters but fails to even capture the attention. The film opens with Eloise (Anna Kendrick) hesitating about accepting the invitation to her oldest friend Francine's wedding who her brother Teddy (Wyatt Russell) is now her ex. He dumps her because she always belittled his intelligence. She goes back and forth with the invitation by saying no than yes, even almost setting the card on fire. But she ends up going to the wedding, even after she had helped planned the event and set up seating arrangements. She ends up sitting on table 19 with a bunch of other people she does not know. At the table, there is Jerry (Craig Robinson) and Bina (Lisa Kudrow) who barely knows the groom and bride but are in a struggling marriage. Then, there is Jo (June Squibb), who was the first nanny to the bride but her entire family forgot about who she was. Then, Walter (Stephen Merchant) who seems out of place and awkward with every conversation about himself not adding up. And Renzo (Tony Revolori) was invited to go cause his mother told him he needs to find a girlfriend or get laid to become a man. Eloise is dwelling on her last break up until she meets a wedding crasher Huck (Thomas Cocquerel) who flirts and dances with her but bails out of the wedding before he gets caught. Teddy keeps reminding Eloise that she should go home and not cause a scene. The film could have worked with its humor and the different awkward characters they introduced. However, none of the humor in the film was funny. It was stupid, it was awkward, and unfunny. The editing with each scene feels like a mash up with its dull humor. Every character had their own conflict and sharing the same table in a wedding that no one seems interested in being there. When every thing tries to resolve itself in the end, it seems forced when characters forget about what their problem really was. I liked the cast ensemble. Except every ones performance was forgettable from a lackluster script that failed to even develop any of these characters. The plot was pointless, well if you would even count it as a plot which it had none. The direction was dull, terribly edited together in order to try to get laughs. There is nothing positive or funny about this poorly executed comedy movie. Overall, Table 19 is horrible. From its terrible editing of lots awkward moments, unfunny humor, poor characters development, boring script and direction. I would not recommend the film at all unless its on cable TV.

Table 19 is a dreadful movie. The script is surely the worst thing about it. Some people are stuck at Table 19 (the loser table) at a wedding. We get each of their stories, if you can call an incoherent jumble of clichés a story. One boy of about 13 is trying to laid, with his mother calling him every 10 minutes to give him advice. One couple may or may not be in love, depending on when you went out for popcorn. One woman plays the ridiculous old person, a staple in every bad Hollywood movie. One man is even more ridiculous. Joining the table is Anna Kendrick, who seems to have two love interests, one of whom just vanishes when his presence becomes inconvenient for the plot. She has recently broken up with the best man, though the explanation for how this happened makes little sense. Everyone at the table has problems. They all go off and smoke dope, and then suddenly the problems are magically solved. This is basically the plot, minus a bunch of slapstick scenes with the wedding cake. Aside from Anna Kendrick, none of the characters are the slightest bit interesting, and none of them, including Anna Kendrick, undergoes any sort of personal transformation that leads to the resolution of their problems. The movie is just one sorry gimmick after another.