Weddings can (hopefully) be a once in a lifetime event, and as such, a lot of planning sometimes started in the earliest stages of life can go into to make sure that the day goes swimmingly. Even trying to make the big day go as smoothly as possible, can sometimes complicate matters. In 2018, the final of the four slated Netflix followed a father (and his family), in his attempts to make sure the last seven days before the wedding goes as stress-free as possible, in The Week Of.

Father of the Bride Kenny Lustig has a lot on his plate: after insisting on paying for his daughter’s wedding, he can scarcely afford it, and even though the groom both can and is willing to pay, Kenny and his struggling construction company insists on footing the bill. Kenny must also deal with looking after his diabetic 87-year-old Uncle who has lost both his legs to the disease and attempting to secure a big client for his company. When Kenny inadvertently damages the hotel, forcing the two families to cohabit the Lustig’s small home before the wedding. As more inconveniences befall the week, both the Lustigs and the Cortices will learn that in this week, if any can go wrong it probably will.

Props should go towards the simple but effective premise that surrounds the final of the yearly quartet of Netflix-Sandler films. I am, myself, reminded of The Worst Week of my Life, a delightful (if somewhat short-lived) British comedy that ran for a couple of years in the mid-2000s. In it, a groom must stay with his (soon to be) in-laws and deal with the hilarious events that befall him in the week before the wedding. While there are a lot of similarities in the premises, key differences come from the characters’ intentions and wider roles. In the Week Of, our protagonist, Kenny, tries his best to do everything in his power to keep the plates spinning so that his daughter can have a perfect wedding. Yes, his actions oft do more harm than good, but you get the sense that he does it not out of malice or spite but for trying to balance everything while keeping the special day pure.

Despite the novelty of the gimmick surrounding the two hours (and seven days) of comedy; Fan’s fears will be allayed as the familiar aspects of the typical Happy Madison comedy make a return, including some gross-out gags, and ridiculous scenarios, padding out the calendar week. A lot of the humour comes from Kenny’s almost self-sabotaging ways to make the day of the wedding better for his daughter. Often coupled with the reactions of Kirby Cortice played by Chris Rock, who is a relative newcomer to Sandler’s comedy. Yet, if you’re feeling a little homesick for some familiar faces, appearances from Steve Buscemi and Rachel Dratch return to help populate the seven days.

The Week Of feels more like a return to form for the definitive comedy that Sandler is known for, It’s attempts to elicit shock from the slightly-farcical scenarios, feels removed from the more character-driven comedy of Sandy Wexler. However, there’s an element of heart even mixed into the crass gags, and if you last h seven days, you might even be touched by the dream day. As long as you’re in good company, The Week Of can fly by.

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