Director: Stephen Burke
Cast: Sally Hawkins, Tom Riley, Sinead Maguire, Ariyon Bakare, Jade Yourell.
Rating: (M)
On paper, Happy Ever Afters might have made box-office sense as a whimsical rom-com in the British tradition of Four Weddings and a Funeral. But that is on paper.
Happy Ever Afters follows two couples on their wedding day as their lives become curiously intertwined when they discover their receptions are booked at the same hotel.
One half of the equation is Maura (Sally Hawkins), a single mother of one who is being paid £9000 to marry Wilson (Ariyon Bakare), an immigrant hoping to stay in the country.
The other couple are Sophie (Jade Yourell) and Freddie (Tom Riley), who are getting married for the second time and harbour obvious insecurities about their relationship.
The most interesting thing about Happy Ever Afters is the casting of Sally Hawkins in her second film with a title starting with "Happy".
However, that is where the similarities end.
Happy-Go-Lucky is directed by Mike Leigh who knows a thing or three about making films, whereas Happy Ever Afters is written and directed by Stephen Burke who obviously doesn't.
Without running any risk of plot spoilers (because there really isn't one), Happy Ever Afters is a dog's breakfast of half-hatched ideas, cringeworthy cliches and tedious Benny Hill-like set-ups.
What's truly remarkable is that it's getting a full cinematic release. If ever there was a film deserving to head straight to the DVD bargain bin, this is it.
Falling over itself to be funny, Happy Ever Afters nosedives from the opening frames and never recovers. First-year film students with handycams have produced better films.
Best thing: The closing credits.
Worst thing: Where do I start?
See it with: Someone you really, really, don't like.
- Mark Orton
