Don’t you kind of wish 1977 Robin Williams could transport himself through time, hunt down 2007 Robin Williams and kick him in the behind?  I know Williams wants to collect a nice paycheck every now and then (don’t we all?), but License to Wed is so lifeless and bland you will only see it when Transformers is sold out and your girlfriend thinks that Jim guy from The Office is cute.

John Krasinksi stars as Ben – a newly engaged guy who is crazy mad in love with his fiancée, Sadie (Mandy Moore).  Of course, she has always dreamed of having her wedding in the same church as her parents, so Ben agrees to go along.  He might be sorry he did. 

It turns out, Sadie’s church is quite popular, and the only open date they can find is in three weeks. Plus, Sadie’s pastor, Reverend Frank (Robin Williams), requires all couples to pass his intensive marriage preparation class before he will agree to do the ceremony. 

Will the class designed to bring Sadie and Ben together actually drive them apart?

If you are looking for Williams’s typical wild and crazy antics, you will be half disappointed.  If you are looking for the same kind of magic Krasinksi, director Ken Kwapis and other cast members of The Office (Thursday nights on NBC!) provide every week, then you will be half disappointed.  If you are looking for an entertaining, funny, laugh-filled comedy, you will be totally disappointed.

License to Wed is tiresome, predictable, lethargic and reaches for the potty humor when desperation kicks in.  Worse yet, writers Kim Barker, Tim Rasmussen, and Vince DeMeglio can’t figure out where the drama and tension come from when they try to graft on a cliché last act about the two lovers trying to decide the fate of their impending union.  Instead, they give us a movie part madcap, part slapstick, part drama, and almost all junk. 

Krasinksi seems lost as he tries to make the most out of the weak material, and starts mugging for the camera like he does on The Office.  It’s funny about 10% of the time in this movie, but reminds me of when George Clooney started making movies during his successful run on ER.  He had certain mannerisms and head bobs that he seemed to pull out of his bag of tricks when in need of some sort of action.  If Krasinski breaks out of the habit like Clooney did, he has a big future ahead of him. 

Meanwhile, Moore has a non-existent, dime a dozen role that is far beneath her talent and could have been played by just about any actress walking the streets of Hollywood (except The Olsen Twins).  As for Williams, he isn’t challenged much in License to Wed, but finds a couple of moments to make you laugh, and tries to give Reverend Frank the right amount of heart as he carries out his sadistic program. 

The kid who plays Reverend Frank’s Mini Me is about the only consistently funny part of License to Wed. 

½ Waffle (Out of 4)

License to Wed is rated PG-13 for sexual humor and language. 

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