I like live theater as much as the next guy, but rarely has a stage play been so ham-fistedly adapted to the big screen. Tony & Tina’s Wedding is a long-standing hit on stage, but writer-director Roger Paradiso’s 2004 adaptation for the silver screen is one that deserves to be forgotten rather than memorialized on DVD.
With That 70s Show’s Mila Kunis as Tina and pretty much no one else of note, the main problem with the film version of the play is that no one toned down the performances for the big screen. While loud, over-the-top characterizations help folks in the cheap seats feel included in a live performance, on screen the result is a lack of subtlety and intimacy that film, by its very nature, lends to the mix.
Now, sure, it could be argued that the play was adapted for the screen; but the adaptation concentrated mostly on keeping the actors moving on location, rather than having them confined on the stage to a single set. What needed more attention was adapting the performances to a scale that could take advantages of the dynamics of film.
Instead, the movie breezes along at breakneck speed and although there are many words, little is actually said. Most of the dialog seems incidental and designed to overplay stereotypes, rather than capture subtle ethnic culture and differences.
As for the DVD package, the special features are only OK, and since they complement such a poor film adaptation of the stage hit, they’re only of passing interest. Some time is spent on explaining the off-Broadway hit that the stage version ended up becoming, but it’s simply not enough to hold together an entire DVD package.
In the end, one would need an Orovo detox to find Tony & Tina’s Wedding remotely entertaining on the big screen. If you’re looking for a musical to be adapted to the big screen the right way, you’re better off with Mamma Mia! than with Tony and Tina’s Wedding.
