The Miranda Cosgrove Rom-Com That Defied The Odds And Killed It On Netflix

Netflix has its fair share of original romantic comedies, and honestly? A lot of them are pretty solid. "Set It Up" showed audiences that Glen Powell could lead a rom-com years before the unexpected success of "Anyone But You," and Randall Park and Ali Wong really shine in "Always Be My Maybe" (which also features a pitch-perfect cameo from Keanu Reeves). These days, the streamer is churning out a ton of rom-coms and seeing what sticks, which is how you end up with movies like "Irish Wish" and, apparently, "Mother of the Bride" — a rom-com led by Miranda Cosgrove and Brooke Shields that's performing quite well on Netflix's charts.

Directed by industry veteran Mark Waters — who's also helmed classics like "Mean Girls" and the "Freaky Friday" film featuring Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis — "Mother of the Bride" stars Cosgrove and Shields as daughter and mother Emma and Lana alongside actors like Benjamin Bratt, Chad Michael Murray, Rachael Harris, and more. While the film earned some pretty bleak reviews from critics, it's apparently charming Netflix audiences ... so what's the deal with "Mother of the Bride?" What is it about? What exactly did critics dislike about it? Should you check it out after all?

Okay, so what is "Mother of the Bride" about in the first place? Apparently no relation to the "Father of the Bride" movies led by Steve Martin, "Mother of the Bride" stars Brooke Shields as Lana, whose daughter Emma (Miranda Cosgrove) returns home to San Francisco from London with a few announcements. Not only is she starting her own business, but she's marrying her boyfriend RJ (Sean Teale) at a gorgeous resort in Thailand. Before she knows it, Lana is off to Thailand for her daughter's wedding — and upon arrival, she makes a startling discovery. RJ's father Will — played by rom-com veteran Benjamin Bratt — is a former boyfriend of Lana's who never spoke to her again after they both graduated from Stanford University.

Obviously, hijinks ensue from there, and there's immediate strife between the two families over the wedding. Largely, it's because Lana feels left out; when Will gives the soon-to-be newlyweds a lavish New York apartment as a gift, Lana feels inadequate, and all of the wedding planning is being commandeered by brand management expert Camala (Tasneem Roc), leaving Emma and Lana to follow her lead. All's well that ends well, though — Emma and RJ get married, and inexplicably, the film ends with Will and Lana ready to get married as well after years apart.

With a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it's safe to say that critics aren't in love with "Mother of the Bride." In a "rotten" review, Robert Levin at Newsday describes the movie thusly: "It's an hour-and-a-half that feels like a decade, so you're left desperately searching for something to end the misery." Manuel Betancourt of AV Club apparently agreed, writing, "As if fueled by an algorithm that's inserting scenes that borrow from the much funnier flicks it will now sit alongside in Netflix's many-themed rows of content, Waters' film fails to muster any memorable set-pieces." 

Much like the moment she references, Natalia Winkeman at the New York Times aims below the belt: "The best screwball gag this movie can muster is a pickleball shot to the groin." Variety's Courtney Howard wasn't much kinder, saying, "The far-off setting emphasizes the lavish and luxe, though the narrative is cheaply woven and fairly threadbare." As for Lindsay Bahr at the Associated Press, she wondered if the film was computer-generated, writing, "I won't go so far as to say that 'Mother of the Bride' feels like an AI creation but it does feel at least a little stitched together from pieces of other romantic comedies of varying quality."

Perhaps it was Amy Amatangelo at Paste Magazine, though, who made the sharpest and most salient critique: "You know when you check into a hotel and the default TV channel is the hotel promotion channel? The new Netflix movie 'Mother of the Bride' is kind of like that."

With all that in mind, should you watch "Mother of the Bride?" As long as you go in with reasonable expectations, it could be a perfectly mindless romp. The film is streaming on Netflix now.