TABLE 19

What starts as a simple concept chock full of possibilities for fun and emotional human interactions quickly becomes melodramatic and overcomplicated, with too many layers and secondary characters. The filmmakers attempt to add more weight to than is necessary or even wanted.

Writer/director Jeffrey Blitz found his success in television, and it shows. A feature-length film has proven a little too much for the TV-type, and at only 87 minutes we have our first red flag - if you don’t have enough material to fill at least 90 minutes then you’re in trouble. ‘Table 19’ falls victim to too many lulls, music montages and moody stare-offs. If this was a 22-minutes episode I’m sure Blitz could have nailed it. Even with the aid of the Duplass brothers as the men behind the story and wearing producer caps, this film just falls horribly short. You can sadly tell when it’s trying to be funny and it just isn’t. You can tell when it’s trying to be emotional or cathartic, but the script is so basic and undercooked that it never gets there. Many of the table 19ers stories are unfinished and painfully thin, and the likes of Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson, Stephen Merchant, June Squibb and that kid from ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ are all tragically wasted.

An actual wedding is more fun than ‘Table 19’. I feel that I should have prefaced that last sentence by reminding everyone that weddings suck so hard.