You're Cordially Invited

I am starved for comedy movies. They seem to be nearing extinction. So I sometimes make exceptions to my "I only watch theatrically released movies" rule for a chance at some laughs.

From one perspective, You're Cordially Invited did make me laugh out loud 12-15 times. On the other hand, it feels like another barely mediocre movie that we constantly see from streaming originals.

Will Ferrell has nearly all of the funny parts. Aside from him, I found the majority of the cast unfunny. The failed comedic attempts made me cringe on several occasions. And there are so many stupid moments and things that make no sense in order to make the joke work.

Maybe I'm the wrong demographic. But aside from a few laughs, I did not enjoy this movie.

(1 viewing, 1/31/2025)

I was eager to watch this one. I love comedies and these two are among the best at it. Spirited was amazing, so i has renewed faith in a streaming platform to make it right... And then i watched.

In the movie's defense, there are a few laughing out loud moment (mostly courtesy of Ferrell), but those moments feel far apart and mainly due to the comedy ability of the stars.

But this movies feels wrong sometimes. It just plays mean, they do crazy things that feel forced and awkward, some of the humour its just dry and lazy and it portraits southerners like they still live in the 1800s. If its a feel good movie, they do a very good job of making you feel sorry for the couples. And its hard to like someone with so many bad actions, despite being super likeable.

Oh, the score its awful - and why play over and over? - and the aligator scene its stupid.

A missed opportunity, not a movie i will rewatch.

I've liked almost every Reese Witherspoon movie I've watched. Will Ferrell rarely disappoints. Putting them together in a comedy seems like a no brainer My issue with this movie is that I knew it would be terrible. Not because of the trailer. Just because this is the norm with straight to streaming movies. One out of ten movies like this are good. They now you don't invest much but 2 hours where you spend half of it scrolling on your phone as you hope to laugh and be surprised. This move doesn't disappoint if you go in knowing it will be bad. Don't expect to laugh out loud

The singing in the post credits scene was the highlight for me.

'You're Cordially Invited': bad movie! It's as unfunny as it is unlikeable, there isn't one character that I wanted to see appear in front of my eyes; and they attempt to redeem them all at the end, which falls flat. Also, Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon aren't the best match.

The end credit singalong with Ferrell and Witherspoon is the only part of this that I'd list under (mini) positives. There are a couple of decent bits scattered in, though none of which stick in the memory as they are paired with rubbish. The near two hour run time doesn't helped either.

You're Cordially Invited is a 2025 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Nicholas Stoller.

... Which is pretty dang good! This was a slapstick movie, which usually isn't my genre but I love me some Will and Reese!

Silly, ridiculous, over the top, but it worked for me.

The highlight was the closing credits. That actually took it from a six to a seven.

ABOUT MY REVIEWS:

I do not include a synopsis of the film/show -- you can get that anywhere and that does not constitute a meaningful review -- but rather my thoughts and feelings on the film that hopefully will be informative to you in deciding whether to invest 90-180 minutes of your life on it.

My scale: 1-5 decreasing degrees of "terrible", with 5 being "mediocre" 6- OK. Generally held my interest OR had reasonable cast and/or cinematography, might watch it again 7 - Good. My default rating for a movie I liked enough to watch again, but didn't rise to the upper echelons 8- Very good. Would watch again and recommend to others 9- Outstanding. Would watch over and over; top 10% of my ratings 10 - A classic. (Less than 2% receive this rating). For Lifetime Movies for Chicks (LMFC), drop the above scale by 3 notches. A 6 is excellent and 7 almost unattainable.