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"Director: Nigel Cole; Screenwriter: Tim Firth; Starring: Rufus Hound, Lucy Punch, Robert Webb, Miriam Margolyes, Harriet Walter; Running time: 94 mins; Certificate: 15  A society wedding is the focus for this effervescent mockumentary with comedian Rufus Hound making his big screen debut as the amateur filmmaker and best man, Raif. He&amp;#039;s got a steady hand, but he presses all the wrong buttons when it comes to reassuring the nervous groom (his brother Tim, played by Robert Webb) as it slowly dawns that this marriage is a big mistake. Hound is his usual rambunctious self, trying to force a smile out of Tim who is overwhelmed by the &amp;#039;happy event&amp;#039; in the days leading up to it. But trying too hard means that Hound isn&amp;#039;t always as funny as he thinks he is. His endless joking around is more useful in rousing sympathy for Tim and thankfully, Webb is a brilliant &amp;#039;straight man&amp;#039; who can get a laugh with just a withering stare. Even so, this film belongs to the women. Lucy Punch is a national treasure, an often underrated comedienne who finally gets to take centre stage as the twitchy bride Saskia. She was raised in leafy Cheshire - dubbed &amp;quot;the Beverly Hills of England&amp;quot; - but Raif is stunned to discover that she&amp;#039;s also the same Saskia he worshipped at school as a notorious rebel and rabble-rouser. The home-video approach is seriously stretched as Raif begins to spend more time with Saskia, drawing out her inner wild child and ruffling Tim&amp;#039;s feathers. Of course any real sense of intimacy is impossible with the record button on and attempts to get around this can feel weirdly voyeuristic. Occasionally, director Nigel Cole simply breaks the rules with a cheeky cutaway. However, the device does come in handy for refreshing old gags about the military style planning of the wedding. Highlights include Angus Barnett as a theatrical vicar, dance lessons with a Russian megalomaniac and a &amp;#039;butterfly release&amp;#039; that threatens to spiral into Hitchcockian violence. As the mother of the bride and chief stickler for detail, Harriet Walter delivers the film&amp;#039;s other standout turn. Her interference breeds more tension but instead of being demonised, she comes across as a woman bereft of romance. It&amp;#039;s evident in subtle ways like her awkward slow dance with the Russian choreographer - but these small moments are often the funniest. Director Nigel Cole (who made his name with Calendar Girls and more recently helmed Made in Dagenham) has a keen grasp of female neuroses and shows the funny side without making them look too foolish. Miriam Margolyes is the obvious villain as Saskia&amp;#039;s snotty grandmother, but even she - girlishly posing on the terrace between booze-fuelled rants - is hard to dislike. Cole is less delicate when it comes to getting the big laughs, either being too obvious (eg a Titanic-themed wedding undone by an ice sculpture), or relying too heavily on Hound&amp;#039;s stand-up routine. The finale is rushed too, with loose ends hastily tied into a neat bow - even though a drunken punch-up seems more fitting - because the real fun of the film is in seeing the best laid plans unravel.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/movies/review/a399386/the-wedding-video-review-rufus-hound-makes-movie-debut/>