The Wedding Singer

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This article is about the 1998 film. For the 2006 musical, see The Wedding Singer (musical).
The Wedding Singer
Directed by Frank Coraci
Produced by Robert Simonds
Written by Tim Herlihy
Starring Adam Sandler
Drew Barrymore
Christine Taylor
Allen Covert
Matthew Glave
Steve Buscemi
Jon Lovitz
Music by Teddy Castellucci
Cindy Wilson
Cinematography Tim Suhrstedt
Editing by Tom Lewis
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) February 13, 1998
Running time 95 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $21,000,000

The Wedding Singer is a 1998 film written by Tim Herlihy and directed by Frank Coraci. Set in the 1980s, the film stars Adam Sandler as Robbie Hart, a wedding singer, and Drew Barrymore as Julia Sullivan, the object of his affections.

The Wedding Singer was later adapted into a stage musical with the same title, debuting on Broadway in early 2006 and closing on New Year's Eve.

Contents

[edit] Plot

 The plot summary in this article is too long or detailed compared to the rest of the content. Please edit the article to focus on discussing the work rather than merely reiterating the plot. (July 2009)

Set in 1985, Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler) is a wedding singer from the town of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Engaged to his long-time girlfriend, Linda (Angela Featherstone), he meets and befriends a waitress, Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore), at the reception hall where he is performing one night. Julia is also engaged, to fiancé Glenn Gulia (Matthew Glave).

On his wedding day, Robbie is devastated when Linda leaves him standing at the altar. She later faces him at his home, telling him that his failure to move on with his singing career led her to change her mind. Robbie tries to move forward with his life, but his despair hinders his performances. Julia tries to cheer him up, and later asks him to help her plan her own wedding. Initially reluctant, Robbie eventually agrees, and their friendship blossoms as they spend more time together and become closer.

Julia's cousin, Holly (Christine Taylor), asks to be set up on a double date with Robbie and Glenn. Julia becomes jealous and drinks to excess when Holly throws herself at Robbie. Holly takes her to the bathroom, and while the girls are away, Glenn brazenly admits to Robbie that he has been cheating on Julia for some time and will continue to do so, even after the wedding. At the end of the evening, Robbie, with a pained expression, watches Glenn take Julia home. Robbie later takes Holly home, and when he rebuffs her advances, Holly realizes that he is in love with Julia.

Julia and Robbie are increasingly confused by their deepening feelings for each other. Robbie tries to get a "real" job to impress Julia, but not only is he unable to do so, but she becomes angry with him for assuming that she is marrying Glenn for his money. Drowned in sorrow, Robbie goes to a bar and meets up with his best friend, Sammy (Allen Covert), a limo driver and wannabe ladies' man. Robbie tells Sammy that he is in love with Julia. He also reveals the truth about Glenn, and his guilt over wanting to stop Glenn and Julia's wedding. Robbie debates becoming a womanizer like Sammy, who seems to be happy as such, but Sammy admits that he is miserable and that all he really wants is someone to comfort him.

Robbie finally decides to confess his feelings and heads to Julia's house. When he arrives, he sees her through her bedroom window. Julia is wearing her wedding dress and happily imagining herself as Robbie's wife, but Robbie mistakenly believes that she is looking forward to marrying Glenn. Heartbroken, he leaves to get drunk and finds Glenn in the midst of his bachelor party. After a heated exchange, Glenn sucker punches Robbie. An intoxicated Robbie goes home and finds Linda waiting for him, wanting to reconcile, on his lawn. In the morning, Julia comes to confess her love for Robbie, but is astonished when Linda answers the door. Linda introduces herself as Robbie's fiancée to a crestfallen Julia. Julia runs to Glenn, wanting to be married immediately, and Glenn happily offers to take her to Las Vegas.

Robbie awakens a short time after Julia and Linda's conversation. Realizing that Linda is merely "settling" for him, Robbie breaks it off with Linda for good.

Inspired by the 50th wedding anniversary of his friend Rosie, to whom he has been giving singing lessons, Robbie decides to pursue Julia. Just then, Holly arrives, telling him that Julia is on a plane to Las Vegas, where she and Glenn will get married. Robbie, Sammy, and Holly rush to the airport, where Robbie books a flight to Las Vegas; his ticket is first class because the coach seats are sold out.

On board the flight to Las Vegas, obvious signs of Glenn and Julia's incompatibility begin to manifest themselves. Meanwhile, Robbie tells his story to a sympathetic audience in first class which includes Billy Idol (playing himself). When Robbie overhears a flight attendant (Shanna Moakler) complaining about a coach passenger who had sexually harassed her, using language similar to that which Glenn had used on the double date, he peeks into coach and sees that Glenn and Julia are there. Over the loudspeaker, and with the help of Billy Idol and the flight crew, Robbie sings a song he has just written. The song is called "Grow Old With You," inspired by Julia's earlier comment that she believed her ideal man was someone with whom she could see herself growing old. He emerges from the first class cabin to serenade an ecstatic Julia while Glenn is waylaid by Billy Idol, the other passengers, and the flight crew when he tries to interfere. The two admit their love for each other and kiss with Billy Idol being so impressed by Robbie's song that he plans to tell the record companies about him which will allow Robbie to finally fulfill his dream of being a songwriter.

The movie closes with Julia and Robbie's wedding, as the band, with the best man (an uncredited Steve Buscemi, who played another best man earlier in the film) singing "True" with the wedding ensemble.

[edit] Soundtrack

Two soundtrack albums for The Wedding Singer, called "The Wedding Singer" and "The Wedding Singer Volume 2", were released, both in 1998. The film contained many scenes of singing at weddings, with songs performed by the film's cast. The soundtrack albums, for the most part, contained the original versions of these songs instead, as well as songs that were in the background during the film, and original songs and dialogue from the film. Only for "Rapper's Delight" was the film's rendition (by Ellen Dow), used, in combination with the original recording.

The track listing of the first album is:

  1. "Video Killed the Radio Star" (originally performed by The Buggles), performed by The Presidents of the United States of America
  2. "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me", performed by Boy George
  3. "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic", performed by The Police
  4. "How Soon Is Now?", performed by The Smiths
  5. "Love My Way", performed by The Psychedelic Furs
  6. "Hold Me Now", performed by Thompson Twins
  7. "Every Day I Write the Book", performed by Elvis Costello
  8. "White Wedding", performed by Billy Idol
  9. "China Girl", performed by David Bowie
  10. "Blue Monday", performed by New Order
  11. "Pass the Dutchie", performed by Musical Youth
  12. "Have You Written Anything Lately?"
  13. "Somebody Kill Me", written by Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy, performed by Adam Sandler
  14. "Rapper's Delight" (medley), performed by Sugarhill Gang and Ellen Dow

The track listing of the second album is:

  1. "Too Shy", performed by Kajagoogoo
  2. "It's All I Can Do", performed by The Cars
  3. "True", performed by Spandau Ballet
  4. "Space Age Love Song", performed by A Flock of Seagulls
  5. "Private Idaho", performed by The B-52's
  6. "Money (That's What I Want)", performed by Flying Lizards
  7. "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)", performed by Dead or Alive
  8. "Just Can't Get Enough", performed by Depeche Mode
  9. "Love Stinks", performed by The J. Geils Band
  10. "You Make My Dreams", performed by Hall & Oates
  11. "Holiday", performed by Madonna
  12. "Grow Old With You", written by Adam Sandler and Tim Herlihy, performed by Adam Sandler

Songs and renditions that appeared in the movie, but were not included in the soundtrack albums, were:

[edit] Chart positions

Year Chart Position
1998 Australian ARIA Albums Chart 1
Preceded by
Mezzanine by Massive Attack		 Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
May 10 - May 16, 1998		 Succeeded by
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
by Jeff Buckley

[edit] External links


Preceded by
Deep Impact		 Box office number-one films of 1998 (UK)
June 7, 1998 – June 14, 1998		 Succeeded by
City of Angels
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wedding_Singer"
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