Kristin Scott Thomas lends her serene upper class sheen and effortless elegance to “My Mother’s Wedding,” her directing debut about three wildly different daughters showing up for Mum’s late life nuptials.
She persuaded her “Horse Whisperer” and “The Other Boleyn Girl” co-star Scarlett Johansson to sign on, and convinced the formidable Sienna Miller and Emily Beecham (TV’s “King & Conqueror”) to play her other daughters in a semi-autobigraphical romance about a mother whose first two husbands died in the service of their country and left their three children with unresolved “daddy issues.”
The script — co-written by Thomas and her new (2024) husband John Micklethwait — isn’t much.
But the thoroughbred cast and the odd moment of wit and grace lift this film of slight delights enough to recommend it.
Radiant 60something Diana (Thomas) is getting married in the cozy nearby church and idyllic garden near her roomy, quaintly decorated country cottage. It’s her third marriage, to a sweet and quirky bird watcher (James Fleet, Thomas’ co-star in “Four Weddings and a Funeral”). But her daughters, their partners and grandchildren are sure to be there for the ceremony.
Famous daughter Victoria (Miller) is a never-married single mom/film star in America, who regularly trots out the “tragic” story of her twice-widowed mother raising three strong girls on chat shows.
“Older sister” Katherine (Johansson) followed her dad and stepfather into the Royal Navy. She’s a captain (perhaps the RN’s shortest) and duty comes first, even though she has a young son and partner.
And Georgina (Beecham), the youngest, is a conscientous nurse, mother of two little girls of her own and a woman certain that her gregarious dandy of a husband, Jeremy (Joshua McGuire) is cheating on her. He drives a Porsche convertible and goes by “Jezzer” — dead give-aways.
Georgina has nurtured her lesser status in the family into full-blown “doormat” wife, and has to be badgered into hiring a private eye (Samson Kayo) to catch Jezzer in the act.
Victoria’s a happier-abroad (“This BLOODY country!”) expat whose life choices make her wistful for what she’ll never have. “Normal” men won’t bother to approach her. “Creeps” and delusional richies, like the much-older French sugar daddy she’s nicknamed “Grand Fromage” (the big cheese) who just wants “to take care of” her” are her only suitors. Reconnecting with a childhood crush (Mark Stanley) at the wedding could be trouble.
But Captain Katherine is the one who has (animated charcoal sketch) flashbacks. She has anxiety about her work, her reluctance to commit to her partner and the son she barely co-parents.
Miller’s on-the-nose casting as a louche film actress content to make a living on crappy sequels extends to the film’s lone nude scene. Because that’s how louche film actresses sleep, no matter who might stumble upon them.
“People pay GOOD money to see this!”
Beecham makes the most of her slow-to-anger woman wronged.
And Johansson impresses by carrying herself with a commanding officer’s bearing, posture and hands-behind-back poses.
Thomas and Micklethwait’s script may be obvious in the most eye rolling sense. They wrote and Thomas stages the least-convincing “late night chat show” scene ever. She’ couldn’t convince Graham Norton to pitch in?
There are five principal actresses here (Freida Pinto is the fifth) and each has a Big Scene/Big Speech/Big Moment of self-confession, self-analysis, self-defense of self-aggrandizement.
But the ever-dorky Fleet delights as his latest underestimated character charms the wedding brunch by serenading his new bride — in FRENCH.
Sindhu Vee steals a couple of scenes as an archetypal overbearing Indian mother (to Pinto’s character) with a whiff of “cool” about her.
“CBD,” her character offers Diana. “God’s gift to granny brides.”
And Thomas shows flashes of her fiery wit in a speech meant to explain how she raised these “girls” to be tougher than this.
The screenplay almost lets everybody down, and referencing Chekhov (“Three Sisters”) doesn’t amount to anything if you don’t inject more depth into the characters and situations as a consequence.
But the settings are gorgeous. Some situations bear fruit and others deliver laughs.
And in the end, Thomas saves the day with the casting — calling in favors, arm-twisting or begging her film into relevance thanks to its players bringing flesh and blood to characters barely worthy of them.
Rating: R, sexual situations, nudity, teen drinking, profanity
Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Sienna Miller, Freida Pinto, James Fleet, Mark Stanley, Joshua McGuire and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Credits: Directed by Kristin Scott Thomas, scripted by Kristen Scott Thomas and John Micklethwait. A Vertical release on Amazon Prime.
Running time: 1:35
