Will Ferrell’s ‘You’re Cordially Invited’ Is A Victim of Marketing Malpractice

Last week, I mentioned to a couple of friends that I was going to a press screening for You’re Cordially Invited, the trailer for which came out last month.

One commented that they hoped everyone in attendance had gotten high to survive it. The other said simply that it looked really bad. In that it’s a straight-to-streaming romcom — it drops on Prime Video this Thursday — I could see why they were apprehensive. My concern bloomed into alarm when I walked into the theater and found myself confronted by a full-screen image of the poster, which depicts a horrified Reese Witherspoon looking on as a muddy Will Ferrell wrestles an alligator. Then I had a great time watching a film that was almost entirely unrecognizable from its representation in its promotional materials. I am here to tell you You’re Cordially Invited has been done SO dirty by its marketing team that I’m legitimately kind of mad about it.

You’re Cordially Invited is the tale of two weddings. Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan), fresh out of college, is marrying her longtime sweetheart Oliver (Stony Blyden); her father Jim (Will Ferrell) declares that she will be married at the same beautiful Palmetto Island inn where he married Jenni’s late mother. Elsewhere, Neve (Meredith Hagner) is only nervous about marrying Dixon (Jimmy Tatro) because he’s an exotic dancer and she knows her passive-aggressive mother Flora (Celia Weston) disapproves. Fortunately, Neve’s sister Margot (Reese Witherspoon) is not only Neve’s biggest fan, but barely tolerates the rest of their family, so she volunteers to plan the wedding at the very same Palmetto Island inn and for the same weekend Jim has booked — or thinks he has. A mixup causes both weddings to converge, with Margot and Jim facing off in defense of their beloved brides; both their opinions of each other and how reasonable they are in their schemes against one another form a sine wave through the rest of the plot. 

So far so normal, right? 

Of course, because this was written and directed by Nicholas Stoller, whose romcom track record includes The Five-Year Engagement and Bros, and the ANTI-romcom AppleTV+ series Platonic — all of which are, notably, grounded in a version of what we all know as reality. Even in his more gonzo titles, like Sex Tape or the two Neighbors movies, the plot is carefully structured to start with sensible reactions to inciting incidents and build to outlandish responses. And so does You’re Cordially Invited, but you would never know when the trailer makes it seem like Dumb and Dumber at a wedding. The trailer doesn’t lie, exactly — all the scenes it cuts together are in the movie, which isn’t always the case — but a man in a zebra costume knocking over a cake and a dock collapsing under a whole wedding party happen fairly late in the movie and are earned in context. Everything to do with the alligator is even worse marketing malpractice because it ruins one of the movie’s most fun surprises.

Contrary to its promos, You’re Cordially Invited is driven not by madcap comic setpieces, but by its well-constructed characters. Jim is white-knuckling through the wedding disaster and trying to ignore his feelings about Jenni — the center of his universe since her mother’s death — starting a new life in which he’ll play a much smaller part. His efforts to maintain his composure and spare Jenni any disappointments lead to gorgeous moments, from shrugging off a pretty serious injury to stunning Margot’s family with a musical performance at the rehearsal dinner. 

Margot fled her Atlanta upbringing decades ago for a career in TV on the other side of the country; on the rare occasions when she does see her family, she feels judged by them, while they feel judged by her. Stand-up comics Leanne Morgan and Rory Scovel, as her sister and brother, kill with every line about what they think are Margot’s L.A. airs — a runner about her inability to remember her nieces’ and nephews’ double-barreled first names sets up a great gag for Jim that also reveals his character’s sweetness and warmth. 

In a worse movie, the brides in the middle of the chaos would be just that — plot devices who only emerge to complain or melt down. Viswanathan and Hagner were cast because they’re gifted comic actors, and they also get comic work to do. Hagner’s largely revolves around a plot point that I, unlike the movie’s marketers, will not spoil; and Viswanathan is hilariously convincing as Jenni affirms every goofy choice her unremarkable fiancé makes. Viswathanan also manages to hold her own in scenes with Heather, played by the scene-stealing Keyla Monterroso Mejia, which tells you how much screen presence she actually has.

You’re Cordially Invited does have flaws. I don’t know why Margot and Neve’s father even appears on screen when he gets no lines at all. (If that’s the joke, make it the joke?) And considering that a foundational plot point is that the inn can only host one wedding per weekend, we don’t get any logistical talk about how double the normal number of people are sharing it. But you might not even notice either of those things when, not if, you watch it. 

Look, I also saw the alligator. I get that you think I’m crazy. But try to overcome your entirely justified prejudice and you will probably have a good time.