Where the 1950 version was as stiff as a piece of wood, the 1991 version is more of a reconfiguration of the initial story than a remake -- even when there are scenes that virtually reconstruct the 1950 movie. Now, while Vincent Minnelli's movie depicted a world no one except those living at that time -- and even then, that's a stretch -- could identify with, Charles Shyer brings those upper-crust sensibilities into a contemporary setting and creates a truly poignant study of a father (Steve Martin) who is about to lose his little girl even though she's already twenty-two and an Architect in her own right and is played by Kimberley Williams. We can relate to the complex emotions he has to go through even when some of the situations he gets involved in are the stuff of perfunctory comedy. However, his narration which opens and closes the movie and his quieter scenes point at a deeper study of a man who is perplexed at what is happening, and who's heart is breaking neatly in two.
Another update is having Diane Keaton's character a true person in her own right, and who better than Keaton to play a real woman? After all, she's the one who created and immortalized a performance as Annie Hall, the quintessential New Yorker of the Seventies. Diane Keaton is a perfect balance to the maniacal antics of Steve Martin who has plenty of slapstick opportunities. She imbues her character with a sense of intelligence and practicality Joan Bennett could never bring to her own -- then again, Bennett wasn't an actress known for her warmth, let alone capacity to play a real person. In many ways, Keaton plays her role surprisingly similar to the way Katharine Hepburn did in GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? in the way she openly embraces her daughters entrance into adulthood.
Visually FATHER OF THE BRIDE has a close relation to BETSY'S WEDDING with its warm colors and affluent settings. There are moments in the movie that are so filled with sentimentalism it's a miracle tears wouldn't be shed, and even trivial events -- such as Williams' explosive reaction to a blender she receives from her husband to be, played by the underrated George Newbern -- are rife with realism. This is a comedy that is well aware of the type of story it is telling and is far removed from being an all-out laugh fest. The only moments of extreme comic relief are the ones which introduce and involve Martin Short and B. D. Wong as two bridal consultants from Planet X and while there may be talk that their characters' raging effeminacy only prolongs the stereotypical behavior of homosexual men, I didn't care -- this is comedy first and foremost and neither character was the butt of a joke, but the creator of one.
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