Danni (Amanda Detmer) is a cute and oh-so-perky Italian-American (even though who can't pronounce the word 'paparazzi') who is about to get married.  Her three sisters come back home for the wedding, but things aren't as rosy as Danni was hoping.  Her crazy sisters seem to be causing more trouble than being joyous over the fact that Danni's getting married.

The oldest sister, Nikki, (Brooke Langton) is a Harvard grad and the star of popular Baywatch-type TV show.  Chrissy (Vanessa Parise) is a powerful Wall Street investment banker with a huge beach front house and an apartment in NYC.  The youngest sister, Toni, (Monet Mazur,) is the rebel who takes great joy in shocking her family.  Bringing this family together, even for a weekend, is just a couple of days too long for most of them.
 
Things start badly when Toni shows up at dinner with her girl friend and lets everyone know that it's not a platonic relationship by giving her a deep kiss.  The father is embarrassed at the role Nikki plays on TV, and Chrissy has to preach woman's lib every time she thinks that Danni's rights are being abused.  (Like when Danni says she's going to take her husband's last name.)
There are problems between the sisters themselves too.  Pent up feeling that have been fermenting for years bubble to the surface at the most inopportune moments.  But through it all, they realize that they are a family, and that families stick together.

The movie was written, directed, and produced by Vanessa Parise who also plays Chrissy, and you can tell that she included a lot of her life int the script.  Vanessa is a Harvard grad who turned down her acceptance to the Harvard Medical School in order to devote her career to acting, much like Nikki in the movie.  She also comes from a large Italian family, and it is clear that she drew heavily on her own experience to write this script.  Unfortunately this is a detriment to the movie rather than an asset.  There are just too many moments and stories that she tried to include, and it makes the film seem bloated.

Playing like a cross between My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but with less humor, and The Big Chill with all of the nostalgia and charm removed, Kiss the Bride doesn't really ever figure out what it wants to be.  The comedic moments are few and far between, and the slice-of-life aspect feels too rushed.

This movie really doesn't have a lot going for it.  The plot, which is fairly unbelievable in parts, was neither original nor surprising.  The argument could be made that romantic comedies aren't meant to be creative or unique, but this one was worse than most.  The movie felt stilted and forced.  It was like the director was trying to include as many anecdotes and vignettes as she could, without worrying about how it affected the whole picture.  Because of this, the movie is fairly cumbersome in parts, especially the beginning when all of the characters are introduced.

Another problem I had with this movie is that all of the major plot points were telegraphed way in advance, and that really took a lot of the fun.  When you can tell which sister is going to hook up with which guy when they first meet, it removes a lot of the reason to watch the rest of the film.

Vanessa Parise seemed to be trying to make the Italian-American version of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, but wasn't able to capture the charm and humor of that picture, nor the universal appeal.  Though everyone is embarrassed to some extent by their family, and could therefore relate to Greek, the prevailing emotions in this film was anger and jealousy which isn't nearly as universal.  It also isn't as funny.

Audio:

The 5.1 English soundtrack was adequate.  There wasn't a lot of use of the rear channels, but dialog was clear and there wasn't any hiss or other audio defects.  Nothing really wrong with it, but nothing outstanding either.  There are subtitles in English, French and Spanish.

Video:

The widescreen anamorphic image was fairly standard.  There was some mosquito noise in the sky and other large patches of a single color, but this wasn't a problem.  The colors were fine and the detail was good.  A nice, standard looking transfer.

Extras:

The only extra, besides the theatrical trailer, is a series of video interviews with the actors and producers.  These last between three and five minutes, and each person talks about their character and how they felt about the movie.

Final Thoughts:

Kiss the Bride just wasn't a movie that I enjoyed.  While it wasn't a bad film, it just didn't have anything to recommend it.  The plot was predictable and the film was cumbersome in a lot of places. The biggest fault was that I couldn't really relate to any of the four sisters, most of them being perfect in one manner or another, and yet filled with jealousy and anger towards their siblings for no real good reason.  There are a lot of romantic comedies out there, and many are both more humorous and more romantic than this one.  Skip it.