Confetti (2006)

I was expecting this to be fairly decent as I've seen virtually all of the actors in other comedies, but after watching it I certainly wouldn't want to see it again. However, since it is apparently improvised I didn't give it a lower rating, as there were some genuinely funny moments, but these were few and far between. The improvisation made the film feel like it had a lack of direction. Robert Webb said this movie was a regret, and certainly his couple were the worst - the only joke was that they were nude. The other two couples were a little better, one wedding was based around musicals, the other around tennis. I felt that this film had so much more potential, considering the actors involved. While I wouldn't consider anyone's acting bad, I simply didn't find the film particularly funny, or romantic, and a lot of the characters were just too flat and not properly fleshed out (such as the gay wedding planners).

Fmovies: 'Confetti' is a funny and charming British mockumentary, but it sure as hell isn't on-par with mockumentaries like 'Spinal Tap' and 'Best in Show'. 'Confetti' is about a fashion bridal magazine called 'Confetti'. The two executives of the magazine (Jimmy Carr and Felicity Montagu) form a contest involving three different couples seeing who can put on the most original wedding. They choose Matt and Sam (Martin Freeman and Jessica Hynes) two tone-deaf theater enthusiasts whose theme is Broadway Musicals ; Josef and Isabelle (Stephen Mangan and Meredith MacNeill) two wannabe pro-tennis players whose theme is, no big surprise, tennis ; and Michael and Joanna (Robert Webb and Olivia Colman), two nudists whose theme is a "naturist" wedding. With the help of two flamboyantly gay wedding planners (Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins), the three couples set on a trek to plan their weddings and perhaps win the Confetti magazine most original wedding contest.

'Confetti' is an interesting concept, but disappointing in that they could have done so much more with it. The beginning is very funny and the ending sequence is flat-out hilarious, but there are so many in-between moments in 'Confetti' that aren't very funny and drag out. The actors are all very talented and funny, especially Vincent Franklin and Jason Watkins who are constant scene-stealers as the bitchy/gay wedding planners. Some of the time, I was confused in what I was watching -- a comedy or a drama. In some instances it becomes too sentimental to be funny, which is usually not a good route to take when making a mockumentary. Satire is a very hard thing to accomplish well in a movie, and 'Confetti' hits and misses, but luckily for the viewers it hits more than it misses. Grade: B-

There are few things so stressful in life as planning and executing a wedding. When that morass of charged emotions runs headlong into a contest held by Confetti Magazine for the "most original wedding," things are bound to get messy.

Three couples are chosen for their unique wedding ideas: Matt (Martin Freeman) and Sam (Jessica Stevenson) want a Hollywood musical style, Josef (Stephen Mangan) and Isabelle (Meredith MacNeill) vie for a tennis theme, while Michael (Robert Webb) and Joanna (Olivia Colman) are "naturalists" and want their nuptials to be done in the nude. Trying to wrangle these three disparate couples into some kind of order are wedding planners Archie Heron (Vincent Franklin) and Gregory Hough (Jason Watkins) who seem to be channeling Corky St. Clair...

In fact, shot as a documentary, this British ensemble piece is sure to be (justly) compared to Christopher Guest's mockumentaries (WAITING FOR GUFFMAN, A MIGHTY WIND, et cetera). Director Debbie Isitt does a fair job of aping Guest though she doesn't know when to go from documentary hand-held to a smoother choreographed camera and relies too much on non-diegetic music.

Clearly, too, Isitt is aware of the weaknesses to the storyline. Two of the three couples are off screen for long stretches and our "villainous" couple (think Parker Posey and Michael Hitchcock from BEST IN SHOW) is mishandled in the finale. Even when they're not working with the best material (how many jokes about a nudist wedding can there be?) the cast does a terrific job keeping the film afloat. Besotted with faces familiar to anglophile TV/film viewers, CONFETTI is an amusing farce.

Confetti fmovies. A brilliant film that will undoubtedly become a cult British comedy classic. A must see for anyone inspired by innovative cinema.

It's improvised like "Best in Show" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and like them it has moments of inspired genius in every scene. Could be a look or a line, but there's comic gold running through the film.

Taking talent from all the current cult British comedy shows, there's a brilliant fusion of subtle, gentle performances counterbalanced by some great big, crude, cartoon-like characters. There's a touch of "art imitates life imitating art", a sense of Nick Parks' "Creature Comforts"coming to life outside of the zoo.

The reviewers that get the film really get it. The few who have been tempted to talk of cliché and stereotypes have missed the mark. Ironically it's their reviews that I had a feeling I've seen before. Are these characters larger than life? Emphatically not. Reality TV has exposed most dramatic characters as being quite tame concoctions. "Confetti" presents characters that may seem familiar at first sight, but then reveals their truth, often in very moving moments.

Loved it. A serious coup de comedy.

I saw a test screener of this tonight in Birmingham and I have to say it is just superb! I don't know when the release date will be, the film was not in an entirely finished state so I guess we were the focus group who got to see it this evening! To answer people's queries... yes, it is entirely improvised - very much in the style of the excellent Christopher Guest films (Best In Show, Waiting For Guffman, A Mighty Wind - all of which I would highly recommend, especially if you like Confetti!) The basic plot line is: Confetti magazine is running a competition for the most out-there wedding, the prize being a house. Various entrants apply and the film follows the three selected finalists during their preparations for the big day. Shot so as to appear in the style of a fly-on-the-wall documentary, the film never left me feeling like it was contrived and the characterisations were just superbly believable throughout.

The casting couldn't really have been any better; some truly fantastic performances from Martin Freeman, Justin Webb (from BBC 2's "The Smoking Room" and Channel 4's "Peep Show") and Olivia Colman (also from "Peep Show" and also BBC2's "Look Around You") - to name but a few. This really was an ensemble cast and the whole thing gelled perfectly.

I would highly recommend anyone to go and see this - a fantastic and imaginative piece of British cinema, with some truly side-splitting moments!

I saw this movie this evening at a preview screening in Southampton knowing only 3 things: It was about weddings, all the scripts were improvised, and it contained one of my most hated people: Jimmy Carr. Fortunately though, I was pleasantly surprised. The film contained the cream of the British comedy crop - actors from Spaced, The Office, Peep Show, Green Wing etc etc, and was suitably hilarious. It follows three couples who are chosen to compete for the title of 'most original wedding' for Confetti magazine. The winner gets a half million pound house. Jessica Stevenson and Martin Freeman make for the nicest and most realistic couple in the film, and their wedding contains the most colourful characters.. notably Jessica's character Sam's sister, a dancer who tries to take over the wedding's choreography (their theme is old MGM musicals) to the couple's obvious annoyance. It was odd seeing the pairing of peep show's Jez and Sophie in the film, and i didn't know if i'd be able to shrug off the feeling that Mark would be getting jealous...the feeling passed. These two were brilliant playing the couple who had chosen a naturist wedding. The Green Wing's Stephen Mangan and Man Stroke Woman's Meredith MacNeill were also hilarious as the couple having a tennis themed wedding - along with a host of marital issues. The show-stealers in the film though had to be the wedding planners. Both gave mesmerising performances and were utterly fabulous. The film's dialogue was apparently improvised, and it shows in the realistic reactions of the characters, particularly these two. They alone were worth going to see the film for. Even if the rest had been terrible. Which it wasn't.

And finally...the true test of the film's greatness... I actually didn't hate Jimmy Carr in it. Wonderful. And also some kind of miracle...

The film's not out yet but i recommend anyone who gets the wonderful quirky British comedies of the last few years to seriously give this one a go when it's released. It's worth it.