Jennifer Lopez is back in the rom-com game. Her latest movie, Shotgun Wedding, arrives on Prime Video next week and the first reviews are in – but they're a little lukewarm. The movie follows a couple (played by Lopez and Josh Duhamel) who gather their families for the ultimate destination wedding, just when they both start getting cold feet about their relationship. As if that wasn't stressful enough, the rom-com takes a turn when the entire party is taken hostage and their lives are suddenly all in danger.
The movie is helmed by Pitch Perfect director Jason Moore and the cast also includes Jennifer Coolidge, Lenny Kravitz, and D'Arcy Carden. But what are the critics saying about Shotgun Wedding?
Deadline's Pete Hammond writes that the movie is "a frenetic action comedy that never puts on the brakes. It is a wild ride no doubt, but it isn't the kind of wedding to which I need to be invited any time soon."
"Shotgun Wedding amounts to an action romantic comedy in which the action is uninspired, the romance tepid and the comedy flat – such that not even rom-com queen Jennifer Lopez can elevate it above aggressive mediocrity," says The Hollywood Reporter's Angie Han.
Collider's Tania Hussain is more positive, saying: "Sure, it has a few pacing issues and is formulaic from the get-go, but it's still, by rom-com standards, a naturally easy-breezy movie that takes fans on a trip to the delightfully sweet and balanced shrine of Lopez's earliest submissions in the genre."
"There are some nice gags here, and smart twists from screenwriter Mark Hammer, and some funny supporting turns," echoes The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw.
However, Variety's Guy Lodge questions the movie's politics, writing: "Sometimes feeling like an episode of The White Lotus directed by Sylvester Stallone, Shotgun Wedding reverses the eat-the-rich sentiment recently popularized by that TV phenomenon, along with last year’s caustic One Percent satires Triangle of Sadness and The Menu. This time, the rich folks fight back. Perhaps some viewers will cheer them on."
Shotgun Wedding arrives on Prime Video on January 27. In the meantime, check out our picks of the best upcoming movies coming our way in 2023 and beyond.
