Perhaps the most succinct way to describe Destination Wedding is if Richard Linklater’s iconic Before…Trilogy featured two despicable curmudgeons who, instead of waxing poetic about life’s great philosophical quandaries, spew vitriolic misanthropy towards each other and society as a whole, while slowly falling in love. Anyone who knows me will understand how this is most definitely right up my alley, and as a fan of both the aforementioned trilogy and ill-tempered people talking about how much they hate society and its annoying conventions, I was destined to enjoy this film. Add two of the most charismatic stars from my childhood, and a brilliant script that feels like a David Mamet-inspired masterwork, you have a film that is as superficial as it is crotchety, but I loved nearly every moment of it. Understandably, the response to the film has ranged from extreme hatred to muted ambivalence – and I honestly cannot fathom how anyone could hate this film. It is quaint, unassuming and charming, as well as being exceptionally well-written and a film that allows us to see the reunion of two of the biggest stars from the 1990s, both of which have made quite substantial comebacks in recent years. Destination Wedding is a wonderful little film, and something I thoroughly, unequivocally adored. It may not be grand cinema, but it is certainly a good time, and sometimes that’s all that matters.

Frank (Keanu Reeve) is on his way to a destination wedding, that of his estranged half-brother. Lindsay (Winona Ryder) is on her way to this same wedding, the ex-fiancee of the groom. Neither individual knows each other, but instantly start bickering and arguing from nearly their first encounter at the airport. They are horrified to find out that they are heading to the exact same place, and have to deal with the fact that they most likely have to spend an entire weekend in close proximity of each other. They spend much of the time at each other’s throats, pointing out every irritating quirk and uncomfortable foible as a way of defending their own imperfections. However, to their surprise (but not the audience’s – this is a romantic comedy, after all) they find themselves falling for each other, and beneath their prickly interiors reside insecure hearts, just looking for the love and happiness that everyone around them feels. The two begin despising each other with a passionate fury and then fall in love with each other with a furious passion. There may be hope for these cranky sourpusses, who find out how perfect they are for each other. Opposites attract, but sometimes we find love with the people who we are the most terrifyingly similar to.

There are two kinds of people in the world – those who love Keanu Reeves, and those who are gravely mistaken. Reeves is by no means a traditionally-great actor (despite frequent attempts to be, especially in the earlier days of his career with performances in prestige films such as Dangerous Liaisons and My Own Private Idaho). Obviously, he has had his moments of questionable career-choices, starring in a range of films that may be visually impressive and action-packed, but somewhat lacking in terms of charisma on the part of the performers, or suffer from a lack of coherent storytelling. It is often difficult to find Reeves’ natural gifts as a performer underneath the troubling quality of his work. Luckily, he’s regained some credibility with the highly-successful and enduring John Wick films, which has reminded the world that Reeves, despite some of his subpar choices, is a great talent, an effortlessly talented performer who is capable of commanding the screen. However, we are talking about action films, and nothing could be further from an action film than Destination Wedding. I was initially hesitant about this film – Reeves may be a great performer, perhaps even misunderstood, but I never considered him someone with great affinity for these kinds of films – and considering Destination Wedding is built upon a foundation of dialogue, I thought Reeves may struggle – fortunately, he didn’t, and his performance was truthful, resonant and ultimately extremely funny. He did exceptionally well in juggling the often extremely verbose dialogue, but I was very impressed with his natural charm and ease with this character. Perhaps it won’t set Reeves up as the next great romantic comedy protagonist, but he’s solid, consistent and ultimately very funny in the role.

Winona Ryder, on the other hand, is an actress who has demonstrated a remarkable capacity to give honest and powerful performances in a range of genres. Working with a diverse group of auteurs and populist filmmakers, in a vastly eclectic career of arthouse masterpieces and mainstream fare, Ryder was, especially in her heyday, one of the finest stars of her generation. Of course, we don’t need to discuss why her career experienced a decline, but we can celebrate her triumphant return to the mainstream, with her involvement in the highly-successful Stranger Things and recent film work showing that she can definitely be depended upon to give consistently great performances. Destination Wedding is Ryder at her best – neurotic and over-analytical, she is a bundle of neuroses that may manifest as slightly unrealistic, but are ultimately indicative of a strangely complex character. In all honesty, even if we consider how this is an extremely flawed film with imperfect execution, we can detach Ryder’s performance and find her giving one of her most fascinating, nuanced performances to date.

Both Reeves and Ryder play stereotypical romantic heroes, albeit ones lacking the charm and grace of more likeable ones, but this is precisely where Destination Wedding finds its wings. It was marketed as something that was intended to be somewhat polarizing, as evident by the decision to make the two main characters as unlikable as possible. This is very much a character-driven film, with the two leads conversing throughout the entirety of the film, with only a few moments of silence between them. There is something lurking beneath the surface of Destination Wedding that doesn’t overtly manifest in any way that is obvious, but rather through methods that are more subversive and effective, such as the epigraph to the film, which reads “a narcissistic can never die, because then the world would end” – which is not only a brilliantly amusing quote, but also quite an interesting concept that governs this film. These two characters are, regardless of how much they deny it, extreme narcissists, and their high opinion of themselves gets in the way of their relationships with others – we don’t see them actually interact with anyone else, but based on their testimonies about their pasts, they were not the subject of many pleasant interactions.

Throughout the entirety of Destination Wedding, Frank and Lindsay are the only speaking characters – there are other characters present throughout the film, but not a single one of them gets a word of dialogue in. They are nothing more than props, elements that exist in the same space as Lindsay and Frank – important in the moment, but otherwise inconsequential. This is not a flaw – it is a glowing merit, because it supports the general arrogance these characters feel when they quite openly imply that they are better than everyone else – and therefore, how else to represent their story through a film that has them as the only speaking characters? Perhaps I’m reading too far into this point, but somehow it just works in the context of this film, and it becomes quite a fascinating experiment, as well as being somewhat unsettling when you realize that no one else in this film has any part to play other than just existing as background objects.

Destination Wedding is a lot better than it has been said to be, and there are more merits than shortcomings in this film. The two leads are absolutely exceptional, with their chemistry being palpable and their willingness to partake in this superficial but charming affair being admirable. It is a great subversion of many romantic comedy cliches, but it isn’t entirely revolutionary, and it borders on being the most cliched only through its intention to critique, but its inability to reinvent what it disparages. However, this isn’t that important unless you’re a stickler for pure, unique and original storytelling, which you, unfortunately, won’t find here (nor in any of these kinds of films, let’s be honest). What Destination Wedding isn’t is vastly outweighed by what it is – a charming, hilarious and entertaining film, a great diversion from reality, but also one that attempts to critique the romantic comedy genre. The results may not be ideal, and there may be several flaws in the film, but when you break it down, Destination Wedding did exactly what it set out to do – reunite two great performers in a sweet, romantic comedy that sees the playing ordinary misanthropes who fall in love. Maybe I am giving this film too much credit, but I found it to be a real delight, an easygoing, mellow little film, and one I enjoyed tremendously.