table 19
3.5 out of 5
A really fun movie is in theaters right now, and it will undoubtedly be lost in the shuffle of Wolverines and Bats — but if those aren’t what you go to the movies for — you will find “Table 19” a nice reprieve from all of the action. Directed by Jeffrey Blitz and starring Anna Kendrick, Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson — “Table 19” will likely come and go quietly from the theaters across America — but that doesn’t mean it’s not any good.
“Table 19” is actually a table at a wedding reception where a bunch of misfits find themselves seated together, shoved in the back corner, away from everyone else, where they quickly discover there’s a reason for their location. They are the people who were invited — but not really expected (or wanted) to attend. One of the guests is Anna Kendrick’s Eloise McGarry –the former Maid of Honor, who was unceremoniously dumped via text by her boyfriend (the bride’s brother). The rest of the table is rounded out by a wife and husband struggling to stay together, Bina and Jerry Kepp (Kudrow and Robinson), the bride’s former nanny, Jo Flannigan (June Squibb), a black sheep cousin, Walter Thimple (played hilariously by Stephen Merchant) and Rezno Eckberg (Tony Revolori) — a young man sent to the wedding by his mother, because she feels he’s more likely to meet a girl at the wedding than his Junior Prom on the same night.
As the movie unfolds, we learn a bit more about each person, and how they received their invite and what connection they had to the bride. Anna Kendrick is as she is in most of the roles she plays, adorably funny and very relatable. It’s not long into the reception however, that the others at the table discover, she is not necessarily “one of them” as again, she was originally the maid of honor and even helped plan out the seating arrangements that they now have. Lisa Kudrow and Craig Robinson play a couple who arrived at the wedding with a struggling marriage and business — with both endeavors seemingly coming to an end. The nanny, Jo, is there thinking she’s received an invite as she must have left a huge impression on the young bride’s life, only to find out no one really remembers her. Walter is the bride’s cousin, but his mere presence is extremely awkward as he’s just been released from prison after stealing a huge sum of money from the family. And finally, Rezno, is just an awkward teen looking for love — only to stumble further and further away after continued missteps. As each of their stories and lack of connection to the party and the rest of the guests are revealed, what appears to be shaping up to be a miserable day begins to bring the group together and they find company in their struggles.
“Table 19” is full of characters that we all know, or have once been (or maybe still are?).
At times the story gets a bit muddled as each characters’ background is fleshed out, and there’s a storyline with a potential new boyfriend for Kendrick’s character that probably could have been left out altogether, but in the end, the movie is fun and the audience I watched it with seemed to really enjoy themselves. Again, bigger and more expensive productions will likely bury this movie at the box office — but once it rolls around on Netflix or Vudu — it is well worth your time. It’s a nice break from explosions and superheroes, as it is the acting and story that carry the movie — and I feel like all the people at Table 19 would be my friends in real life.
