Father of the Bride

Minnelli's 1950 comedy about wedding-day horrors is updated for the '90s, but is tamer stuff than the original. Co-writer/co-producer Nancy Meyers and co-writer/director Shyer go for broad laughs; the closest they come to recreating Minnelli's dark, disturbing nightmare sequence is a scene in which the bride's father fantasises about a cut-price reception. Martin is the harassed dad, wrestling with ever-escalating costs and rapidly diminishing pride; mom (Keaton) is the voice of moderation. Some sequences and dialogue are lifted directly from the original, but in the wider context, this merely serves to underline the remake's comparative lack of tenderness and subtlety.