The Wedding Singer



A Romantic Comedy made in 1998, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

Robbie Hart is the titular wedding singer who is all set to be married to his girlfriend, Linda. She leaves him at the altar. His friend Julia tries to cheer him up, and asks him to help her with her wedding. He agrees, and the two begin to fall in love. There is a problem, however- Julia is engaged to Glenn. And this we mention this story is set in 1985, just so they can make a bunch of jokes about CD players, Van Halen, and the like?

It's a cute '90s movie with likeable characters and a cute ending. What's not to love?

There was also a stage musical based off of the film.

Tropes include:
""He's losing his mind...and I'm reaping all the benefits!""
 * Anti-Love Song / Break Up Song: "Love Stinks", which is, believe it or not, a real song.
 * As Himself: Billy Idol
 * Bitter Wedding Speech: Twice. Before Linda leaves Robbie, the best man at one of the weddings he performs at gives one; Robbie does his best to smooth it over. After Linda leaves Robbie, he gives one himself at another performance.
 * The Cameo:.
 * Creator Breakdown: Parodied (and expertly summarized) Robbie's breakdown occurred while he was writing a love song for the woman who would later leave him at the altar; the lyrics and style of that song start with fluffy romance, switch suddenly to extreme rage, dissolve into shocked sadness, and finally end with despairing "kill me now" Wangst.
 * Despair Speech: Robbie gets a despair song.
 * Disposable Fiance: The "evil all along" variation.
 * Robbie was this to his fiancée Linda, but since he's the central character, her decision to leave him is portrayed as shallow and mean. Even so, Linda is less cartoonishly evil than Glen, who is depicted as being violent, lecherous, and a liar.
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him: Almost-case; the drunken best man from the first wedding appreciates George, and not for the singing.
 * Dumb Blonde: Holly, from both the movie and musical versions, is both slutty and slightly dim. However in the original movie, Julia herself was intelligent with Hair of Gold in contrast to Robbie's stupid brunette ex, Linda. The musical reverses Julia's and Linda's hair colors, with Julia a Brainy Brunette / Girl Next Door type and Linda an even bigger Dumb Blonde than Holly and dabbling into Blondes Are Evil.
 * The Eighties: This film is jam-packed with 1980s pop culture references.
 * Eighties Hair
 * Embarassing Last Name: If she marries Glenn, her new name will be "Julia Guglia" (pronounced Goo-lia).
 * Final Love Duet: The Musical has three for Robbie and Julia. "If I Told You", "If I Told You (Reprise)", and the final final duet, "Grow Old With You" (which, by the way, is now a duet).
 * Five-Man Band: In the musical:
 * The Hero: Robbie
 * The Lancer: Sammy
 * The Smart Guy: Julia
 * The Big Guy: George
 * The Chick: Holly
 * Team Mom: Grandma
 * It Will Never Catch On: Combined with Analogy Backfire in hindsight: Sammy talks about being miserable because he never settled down, saying that he modelled his look after Vinnie Barbarino (played by John Travolta) and how "[Travolta's] show got cancelled!" because "No one wants to see a fifty-year-old guy hitting on chicks". Travolta, of course, ended up having a big comeback with Pulp Fiction and became a sex symbol again.
 * Also used in the musical during Glen's number, where he comments that "nobody would pay $3 for a cup of coffee" and "Betamax... It's genius! Buy as much stock as you can!"
 * Other versions of the song replace Beta with New Coke.
 * Holly's frustrated opinion of the Rubik's Cube.
 * Jerkass: Glen Gulia nicely fills the "dick boyfriend" role that many romantic comedies have.
 * Jimmie (Jon Lovitz) as the lecherous and ridiculous wedding singer Julia refuses to hire.


 * Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sammy.
 * Love Epiphany
 * "Mister Sandman" Sequence: How the Film opens.
 * The Musical
 * Musical World Hypotheses: Diegetic type.
 * One-Scene Wonder: Jon Lovitz as another wedding singer, who revels in his new business after Robbie quits.
 * Period Piece: A rather unusual one. There's really no reason why this story had to be set in 1985, thirteen years before the film's release, but it sure gives a ton of great joke opportunities.
 * Piss-Take Rap: The Rappin' Granny.
 * Playing Against Type: Up to The Wedding Singer, most of Sandler's roles had been immature guys who eventually revealed a more sensitive side. This was the first role of his to be a fairly straightforward nice-guy-with-underdog-tones, and that eventually became his new type.
 * Popular History
 * Really Gets Around: Holly, by her own admission.
 * Romantic Comedy
 * Runaway Bride: A rare unsympathetic view.
 * Running Gag: George singing "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" whenever left alone on stage.
 * Screen to Stage Adaptation
 * Technology Marches On: Lampshaded, Glenn brags about buying a CD player for around $1000, and Julia promptly asks to play a record on it.
 * Wedding Deadline: Played straight in the musical, but averted in the film; the break-up happens on the plane to Las Vegas.