Confetti

Herald rating: * * *

Confetti is the Brits' attempt to create a mockumentary, a genre made popular by Christopher Guest's movies, such as Spinal Tap, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind.

Not as finely crafted as Guest's well-tuned films, Confetti is still an amusing look at something perfect for this style of film, the wedding industry.

Boasting a cast filled with well-known British TV comedic talent, most of the faces will be only vaguely familiar to New Zealand audiences, except for Martin Freeman (The Office) and Jimmy Carr (the host of TV show Distraction) in his first big-screen role.

Carr is well cast as Antoni, the publisher of a bridal magazine called Confetti. As the face of the magazine, he is more interested in lunching than working, and coming up with ideas like running a competition to find the "most original wedding of the year".

After much deliberation, and little choice, three finalists are chosen. Matt (Freeman) and Sam (Stevenson), an average, nice couple who can't sing but want a wedding with a musical theme; Josef (Stephen Mangan) and Isabelle (Meredith MacNeill) who are a highly competitive, insecure couple who want a vintage tennis wedding theme; and Michael (Robert Webb) and Joanna (Olivia Colman), naturalists, who want to get married, well, naked.

Much the same as Guest's films, the actors spent several weeks work-shopping their characters, were given a storyline to follow, but were allowed creative control to improvise once the cameras started rolling.

The process works for some, and not others. Freeman and Stevenson steal the show and are the only couple of which you become fond as they keep their characters interesting and funny, dealing with learning to sing and dance, and her overbearing family.

Webb and Colman deserve praise for being naked, in a very unflattering way, for most of the film, but both their characters, and the tennis players' routines become repetitive and tired as the film progresses.

Losing momentum, the gay wedding planners are largely responsible for pushing the film through to its conclusion.

Although it tends to the ridiculous at times rather than the witty, anyone who has been through planning a wedding will find something amusing in this film.

Verdict: Amusing British mockumentary, but not as good as its American counterparts.

Cast: Martin Freeman, Jimmy Carr, Alison Steadman, Jessica Stevenson
Director: Debbie Isitt
Running Time: 100 mins
Rating: M, offensive language and nudity
Screening: Village & Hoyts