In Betsy’s Wedding, Eddie Hopper (Alan Alda) shows off and gives daughter Betsy (Molly Ringwald) a fabulous formal wedding. What happens next is every bride’s nightmare.
This is not a new idea. It was done before (and better) in the Spencer Tracy/Elizabeth Taylor classic, Father of The Bride, from which writer-director-star Alda steals whole scenes shamelessly.
But the idea still works and by the time the big evening arrives, the Jewish side of the family screams, “it’s escalating – like the arms race!” while the Italian side of the family is up to their ears in debt and the mob.
Mother Lola (hilarious Madeline Kahn) wants a rabbi, Pop wants a priest, Betsy’s parents are losing their house, her older sister Connie (Ally Sheedy) is in love with a gangster, the wedding lands on the rainiest day of the year and the tent leaks!
It’s silly, but never dull, and the ethnic differences make for a lot of humour about religion.
Alda’s script is crisp, his pacing lively, and the actors all play it for real instead of for guffaws, which makes everything twice as amusing.
Eddie Hopper
Alan Alda Mr Hopper
Joey Bishop Lola Hopper
Madeline Kahn Betsy Hopper
Molly Ringwald Stevie Dee
Anthony LaPaglia Gloria Henner
Catherine O’Hara Oscar Henner
Joe Pesci Connie Hopper
Ally Sheedy Georgie
Burt Young Grandma
Julie Bovasso Harry Lovell
Nicolas Coster Nancy Lovell
Bibi Besch Jake Lovell
Dylan Walsh Angelica
Camille Saviola Nate Tobias
Allan Rich
Director Alan Alda
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