.: Review of Jenny's Wedding (2015) **SPOILERS**

Jenny's Wedding.

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I picked this movie to watch, solely on the fact that one of the main actresses has been in films I recognised and enjoyed before. Katherine Heigl played Jenny in this film, which was solely about her family becoming aware and used to the fact that she was a lesbian. She has played in other films such as Knocked Up, 27 Dresses and Life as we know it. All of which I have previously enjoyed. I did have a pre thought about what this movie would entail as she has been playing the unlucky in love character throughout her career, but I was completely blown away when I was wrong.

Her family had the same idea as me, that she was waiting for 'the one' and wouldn't settle for anything less, and were completely shocked when she said she was gay and not only that, but she was going to be marrying her roommate and starting a family with her.

Read on for what I thought about this film, would I recommend it? Who's performance would I rate the most?

Okay, so everyone knows Katherine Heidl. She is a beautiful and strong woman, and often plays this role in her movies, and I am almost ashamed to admit that when this movie began, I was infact struggling with the fact that I was seeing her portray the same kind of strong and independant woman, but that she wasn't straight. Now, I know what you might be thinking, but I am absolutely not homophobic in the slightest, I believe that you are who you are and you like what you like, and there is nothing wrong with whichever

this is, gay couples have as much right to happiness and normalcy as a straight couple. However, I did find it difficult to see her as a lesbian, because my brain was trained to think otherwise as I was thinking about her past performances. Although the screen writers were sensitive about it, I feel they did a great job in getting across the troubles that this couple, and many others have to go through in order to come out, not only to family, but to everyone in their lives. This movie was set in a small town, and although she had moved out to the city, her parents still lived in the town, and they would have to witness all of the whispers about her daughter as they learned she was a lesbian.

At the beginning, the first person that Jenny tells about her being a lesbian is her mother. She was going to tell her father at the same time, but there was a room full of people. You are shown a very emotional exchange between the two women as her mother goes through the motions of being confused, and hurt about the lies in the past, and then embarrassed. She also goes the distance in asking what she did wrong in order for her daughter to turn out this way. Some of the things which are said here would be very hurtful for Jenny in that situation, but I don't believe the mother's character understood the gravity of her words.

She was all set to tell everyone in the one night and get it over with, when her mother stopped her and pleaded that she didnt tell her siblings and everyone else because she didn't want people gossiping about her life. Before this event Jenny had been very close with her mother, but her mother was distraught at the fact that her daughter had been lying to her for so long. She agree'd to keep it quiet for her mothers sake, but this just ended up in more people being hurt, as her younger sister Anne saw her with her partner when they were looking at wedding dresses, and kissed in public.

When Anne found out, she wasn't too bothered that her sister was Gay, more the fact that she had been kept in the dark. Anne is going through her own tough times with her husband who is constantly out doing god knows what with god knows whom, and she realises that her marriage is doomed when she see's how happy her sister is. Throughout the whole film, Anne is constantly going on about the grass in her garden being dead. And makes a good point in saying that "Happy people don't have dead grass". Once she learns that her grass will grow with a little bit work, she realises that she too can grow and be happy if she only takes the opportunity to make it happen.

Jenny finally gives in when she knows her whole family know, and takes the time to tell her mother's best friend, who is the local gossip. This then leads to her parents being mortified and disowning her in public, to which she is slightly upset but is determined not to let it affect her life. She is determined to be happy with her partner and to live her life to the fullest she can. There is a specific scene with her father, which includes them rowing, and her saying some pretty mean things about not being able to miss him when he is gone from her life if he doesn't want to be a part of her happiness. This then leads to him not talking to her or his wife about all of it again, and becoming quite stuck in his ways. It isn't until the mother is in the local shop and hears her best friend gossiping about Jenny that she realises she has done the wrong thing and gets back in touch.

At the beginning of this film I thought it would be a load of garbage, but soon caught myself completely enthralled. I thought that the person who performed the best was most certainly Tom Wilkinson, who plays Eddie (The Father). There is a very emotional scene where he explains that he was not hurt that she was a Lesbian, but that she said that she wouldn't miss him. Throughout the film you see him going through the motions with it, you can see he is blaming himself and he goes on to say at one point that if she is rejecting anything then it is him, since he was the male rolemodel in her life. He does his best to understand to begin with, but is hell bent on protecting his wife's feelings and image that he looses sight of what might be best for his daughter.

In conclusion, I felt that this was a great movie in the fact of putting out the awareness that there are some societies which being gay is still not accepted. I felt that all the actors/actresses did an amazing job in the performance of this movie. The big question is, would I watch it again? Probably not. A movie has to be absolutely spectacular in my mind for me to be able to watch it more than once, but that doesn't mean that I don't rate this as a good film. I would say I would give it 3/5 stars.