This weekend saw the release of Shotgun Wedding on Amazon Prime. It was a rom-com/action-adventure film that featured Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel. The film was like Trip to Paradise was mixed up with The Lost City. My initial thought on the film was that it was going to be a stupid film that tried to be funny. That is kind of on target, but I was entertained by it more than I thought I would be.

Tom (Josh Duhamel) and Darcy (Jennifer Lopez) were off to a tropical island for a family with their entire family. When pirates arrive and take the wedding party hostage, Tom and Darcy were on the run across the island trying to get help, as they struggled with their own personal problems.

Yes, this movie stretches credibility a lot, but it was just silly enough to be fun. Duhamel and Lopez were great together. I believed everything that they did and I could see what a great couple they made, even when their characters did not seem to feel the same.

Much of the action beats of the film were not that realistic, but they are not bad enough to ruin the film. In fact, Jennifer Lopez, especially, really dove into the role and brings a lot of energy in the action.

The supporting characters are all eccentric and played wonderfully by an ensemble cast that stands out. Cheech Marin is excellent as the father of the bride. Jennifer Coolidge is hilarious as the mother of the groom. Lenny Kravitz appeared as Darcy’s old fiancé. Other actors in the ensemble included Sonia Braga, D’Arcy Carden, Desmin Borges, Callie Hernandez, Selena Tan, Alberto Isaac, Melissa Hunter and Pancho Cardena.

Shotgun Wedding did take some time to look at two main protagonists closely, bringing up some deep seeded character doubts that gave a nice flavor to mix with the action scenes.

Unlike a lot of the action rom-coms, this film was pretty violent with its share of blood and killings. There was also several scenes where the movie played on the emotions, especially one where the wedding guests were singing a song (no spoilers here, but this was my favorite part of the film).

Shotgun Wedding is definitely not a film that makes a lot of sense at times, but I enjoyed watching it and I was never bored. I’m not going to dive too deep into it, but as a snowy Saturday afternoon at home, this was worth my time.

3.4 stars