Oh, Robin Williams… You were doing so well for a while there. In 2002, you had that trinity of One Hour Photo, Insomnia and Death to Smoochy, embracing a new life as quality actor in darker materials. The only real blotch on your record since was RV; otherwise, you’d really toned down that whole, tiresome ADD routine. But old habits die hard though, and Robin Williams, as we’ve all come to know him, is back in form, such as it is, with License to Wed, playing a crazed reverend.



So Ben meets Sadie (John Krasinski from the Office and Mandy Moore), and they’re clearly made for one and other. They kiss, they court, they move in together and Ben asks Sadie to marry him, and of course she accepts. Sadie’s dream is to get married in her childhood church and have the ceremony officiated by the family preacher Reverend Frank (Williams). Rev. Frank is, of course, all too happy to oblige with just one condition: his church has instituted a marriage preparation course, which couples must pass, before they are allowed to marry.



What happens next is supposed to be funny, but I wasn’t laughing. Well, I wasn’t laughing much. Williams’ funny bone is still intact and he gets off a few zippy one liners, but the plotting and situation comedy of the film falls oh, so horribly flat, it’s unbelievable. Between the creepy robotic babies that mimic real children incomplete and utter detail and Rev. Frank’s obvious voyeuristic and borderline fetishistic tendencies, there’s really nothing funny about what’s going on in this picture. Not to mention the fact that the film lacks anything remotely original.



If that weren’t bad enough, this is one of those cases where Williams’ shtick is tired, quoting MC Hammer and cutting up with an endless array of puns. Let alone, he’s probably the single, creepiest minister outside of any Catholic Church scandal. So because of this or not, the focus of the film is on Ben and the heavy narrative lifting is done by Krasinski, who is more then up to the challenge, he’s just in need of better material. At least he’s got back-up in this from fellow Office-mates Mindy Kaling, Angela Kinsey, and Brian Baumgartner, but they’re really just there for show.



Ultimately, the sitcom contrivances are too much and I’ve got to think that any reasonable person in a similar situation would be bringing charges against Rev. Frank rather then canonize him as a modern marriage genius. I can’t really think of anything redeeming in this movie, which is unfortunate because you always look for some light spot to hold on to.



Truth be told, I can’t think of anything else to say about this movie other than if you like whimsy and wit and delightful romantic comedy, then you’re probably better off seeing Transformers. That’s right, I went there. Giant fighting robots and the humans running for their lives is of more emotional resonance than a boy meets girl story. Who’d have thought?