Wedding Wars

Plot

Gay party planner Shel (Stamos) is organizing the wedding of his straight brother Ben (Dane) to Maggie (Somerville). But when Maggie's father and Ben's boss, Maine's Governor Welling (Brolin), makes a speech against gay marriage, Shel goes on strike for equal rights. His cause picks up steam and eventually spreads nationwide in a "no gays for a day" movement.

Cast and characters

Production

Of Stamos director Fall said, "John’s incredibly charming ... which makes him the perfect conduit for the message of this movie." He went on to explain, "I didn’t want to make just another ‘gay’ movie ... I wanted to make a point and really say something, but subtly. I wanted to show both sides without vilifying anyone. I wanted to win people over with comedy — and who better to help with that than someone who has been coming into their living rooms for years now?" Executive Producer Neil Meron said, " "John was always the first choice for the role." Stamos stated he was proud of the film, noting "Initially it’s not about this issue of gay marriage. It’s just the simple fact that his brother gets to have something that he can’t have, and why shouldn’t he get to have it? He can plan a wedding but can’t have one himself."

Wedding Wars was filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Reception

The Advocate called Wedding Wars "A family comedy that manages to tackle the issue of same-sex marriage with light humor and a deft touch."

In a December 2012 AfterElton.com interview, director Fall stated that he was very proud of the film, noting that "it was kind of subversive, because it really was an entertaining comedy. But the politics are clear in the movie and so I think a lot of people watched it as sheer entertainment but there’s an explicit political agenda going on. It was a very clever way, I think. Kind of a spoonful of sugar thing."