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greggy wrote on 03/18/2010:

I like Tori Spelling's work. She's consistantly good in the romantic comedy arena. This new actress, Jane Chou, just chew's up every scene she's in. The 2 leads are also attractive, but O'Shea could have been a bit more animated with his part. After all, he's dealing with the 2 big loves of his life and that should generate a little more angst than he's showing. I've been in that exact spot and it didn't turn out as well as this movie. Entertaining --Yes; Realistic --No. See the movie, it's fun (unlike my wedding).

JANORM wrote on 09/26/2009:

You can nit-pick any film to death, if that's your sticke! This is a very entertaining movie about love! It shows our all too human weaknesses and strong points. This scenario is played out time after time for both gay and straight participants. What it does besides the entertainment factor, is show us what the true value of friendship truly means, and how the respect and love by human beings will always be a consummate part of this. These intertwining relationships have been and always will be part of the human animal. This film shows how people deal with these relationships both on the silver screen and in real life. LOVED GAINED, LOVE LOST, LIFE GOES ON!!! NJMJr!

Jeffred wrote on 11/19/2008:

Is it the next "Brokeback Mountain", no! Is it a fun movie to see with your friends, and a great one to remind us all of the power of love, YES! I waited for almost a year to see this film, once I found out my friend Levi Kreis had songs on the soundtrack I couldn't wait to see it. The leads were adorable, Tori was great, if under utilized. Jane Chou was a gem, again under Utilized.

Two months after seeing it on Here!, I was in LA, and while having lunch with friends, I couldn't figure out why the guy at the table across from us looked so familiar. The light bulb finally went off, and I realized it was the Male Stripper from "Kiss the Bride". It was all I could do, not to be inappropriately over excited. Because I knew right next to him would be the 'Bride' herself, Tori Spelling.

I started to show this to my friends while we waited for the DVR to fill up with "American Idol", they've been bugging me ever since to see the whole movie, I'll be glad to add this to my movie collection if only to shut them up.

Amos Lassen wrote on 10/30/2008:

“Kiss the Bride”

Oh Well

Amos Lassen

“Kiss the Bride” (Regent Releasing and Here TV) could have been a really good movie but it is terribly flawed. It is not all bad, however, and there are several enjoyable moments in it. It just does not live up to the current state of gay cinema which has been quite good of late.
Matt and Ryan were best friends in high school but they fell out of contact with each other. When Matt receives an invitation to Ryan’s wedding he is surprised—especially that Ryan is marrying a woman. Matt returns to his hometown and plans to rescue Ryan, his former lover, from falling into the arms of straight matrimony. However, Ryan’s fiancée, Alex, takes a liking to Matt and she appears to be somewhat ditsy, very cunning, and really cute. Matt tries to rekindle the old flame the two guys once shared but Ryan is determined to extinguish any sparks and dismisses their old romance as just a fling. Matt, on the other hand, realizes that Ryan is still the love of his life but now has to deal with him as his new “best friend” and Alex has become a “best friend” as well. Matt is also forced to deal the hometown that he thought he had left completely behind. As the day for the wedding nears, secrets open up and old feelings rise to the surface. Matt, Ryan and Alex are faced with balancing the past with the present and make a choice that will affect the rest of their lives as they look at the boundaries of love, sexuality and identity.
It is almost hard to believe that the person who directed the wonderful “Latter Days” also directed this. The performances of the cast members—Tori Spelling, Robert Foxworth and Joanna Cassisdy—are dreadful. The two male leads, however, are gorgeous to look at and there was a certain sweetness as they told how they each went their separate ways. The film also looks good even though it looks like it was shot for the small screen rather than the big theater. The script had great possibilities but C. Jay Cox’s direction was quite lacking. Some of the small things work in the movie such as those small human moments between characters.
I prefer to look at “Kiss the Bride” as a work in progress for the director and I am sure that if we keeps at it, there will be better things coming from him.

just a reviewer wrote on 09/21/2008:

{NOTE: I obtained this Region 4 DVD a couple of months ago and have viewed it a few times. I'll admit that on first watching I was mightily disappointed, particularly in view of what I consider C. Jay Cox's much better, gay-related work, "Latter Days" However, repeat viewings of "Bride" have resulted in my initial impression taking on a somewhat more positive spin, as you may gather from other of my comments, below. In this work it seems the director and writer are trying to tell.....no, make that show.....us that sexual preference (if not also orientation), is not just a black or white, a yes or no thing; rather it's a continuum and can change over time. Still, even if you consider that theme to be well handled, in no way does this production come close to achieving/maintaining the high interest levels being attained by that other recent gay film, "Shelter," directed by newcomer Jonah Markowitz.}

(A). If by now you're wondering, this movie......if it's anything......is a "seriocomedy." It is NOT a gay romance (although at an earlier, teenage time in our two male leads' lives, there might have been the beginning spark of romance). No, come to think of it, even then it was more likely to have been just youthful lust. So, with that out of the way, you might ask how this production works as a semi-serious comedy. On this, all I can say is that in such a genre, comic timing is everything, and I suspect that comedy performance has been the background of neither of our male leads (but older, supporting cast members Tess Harper and Robert Foxworth keep the chuckles coming fairly reliably). Karner / O'Shea almost get it on the button at times.......but a successful comedy needs more than almost when it comes to timing. Still, what Philipp Karner (Matt) does do well is deliver sincerity---and you're going to like him for that. And then there's James O'Shea (Ryan), who effectively gives us a "confused sweetness"---you'll fall for that as well. Oh, yes, and he also "puts out" for us in the form of a good looking face and an excellent body (and er, ahem, that includes a great ass and a nice package---more than enough there to have shared with a Karner, who's sadly lacking in these latter two departments). As for Spelling, I'm not a "Tori-fan," but she does come across as miles better here than she was in another gay film, "Trick."

(B). Along with secondary character actress Amber Benson, we also have Steve Sandvoss, and both are "carryovers" from "Latter Days." Sandvoss' character and a "buddy," played by Michael Medico, are given fairly frightful parts in the opinion of this viewer. Even so, it's too bad that whoever put together/approved the Cast List for the film's Closing Credits didn't know enough to realize they'd gotten these two player's character names reversed (that must make one feel good as an actor).

(C). One last point, for those of you who might keep up with such things: Karner does get from O'Shea a lot better lip-locks (both in quality and number) than does Spelling. How about them apples?

(D). PS--This DVD won't get tossed out in the trash (as some have been)----but it's hardly likely to make it onto this viewer's "Addictive" list*** either.

(E). ***Some which are habit formers: "Just A Question Of Love" / "Brokeback Mountain" / "Boy Culture" / "All Over The Guy" / "Second Skin" / "The Man I Love" / "The Man of My Life" / "Oh Happy Day" / "Fashion Victims" (Coming from Culture Q soon).