Phil Havemeyer (Philip Quinaz) has to reconvince his bride-to-be (Alison Fyhrie) to marry him in BREAKUP AT A WEDDING
BREAKUP AT A WEDDING (Victor Quinaz, 2013)
IndieScreen
289 Kent Ave. at South Second St.
August 2-8, 7:00
347-227-8030
www.breakupatawedding.com
With their wedding day upon them, Alison Jones (Alison Fyhrie) suddenly gets cold feet, convincing her fiance, Philip Havemeyer (cowriter Philip Quinaz), that they should go ahead with the festivities anyway, faking it for the guests and then calling it quits afterward in the silly but fun pseudo-mockumentary Breakup at a Wedding. The film is set up as wedding videographer Vic James’s (cowriter, director, and producer Victor Quinaz, Philip’s brother) self-proclaimed masterpiece; James and his small team of photographers have been given unlimited access to the previously happy couple and their friends and families, capturing intimate moments, deep, dark secrets, and general mayhem as all hell breaks loose, from the rehearsal dinner through the wedding itself. “Weddings make people go insane, but I always edit out the crazy,” Vic says at the beginning, “that is, until I met these two.” There are battles between the competing best men (Damian Lanigan and Chris Manley), maid of honor Mary (Mary Grill) is determined to get laid, and Alison has trouble dealing with her divorced parents (Hugh Scully and Caitlin B. FitzGerald), her father’s new Czech mail-order bride (Helena Lukas Martemucci), and her stepmother’s goddaughter, Lenka Jones (cowriter and producer Anna Martemucci, who is married to Victor Quinaz), who is betrothed to Alison’s brother, Brian (Brian Shoaf). It all makes for a host of bizarre antics, some very funny, others too far over the top, but there’s a charming genuineness and warmth to it all, probably in part because many of the actors and filmmakers are related themselves, and Philip Quinaz has most likely experienced a whole lot in one of his other jobs, professional wedding DJ. Cinematographer and coeditor Giovanni P. Autran, who also plays the florist, keeps it all honest, mixing in interview segments, handheld shots at the wedding, and playfully lit dance scenes. And thankfully, the film avoids getting overly sentimental while including some fresh insights into love, friendship, responsibility, and trust. Breakup at a Wedding continues at indieScreen in Williamsburg nightly at 7:00 through August 8; one of the producers, Zachary Quinto, who plays Spock on the relaunched Star Trek franchise, will be on hand for a Q&A following the August 6 show.