Diksha Sundriyal
Prime Video’s ‘Shotgun Wedding’ is a romantic comedy film that takes place on the wedding day of Darcy and Tom. Tom has worked hard to make every little thing perfect about the wedding, and despite her difference of opinion on the matter, Darcy is excited for the day. Things get a little tense between them when her ex, Sean arrives at the wedding. While trying to settle their differences, Tom and Darcy find themselves in an impossible situation when a group of gunmen takes everyone captive.
Directed by Jason Moore, the film goes through many ups and downs and has a couple of twists and turns up its sleeve to keep the audience interested. If you are wondering whether the film is based on a book or a real-life event, then here’s what you need to know.
Shotgun Wedding: A Purely Fictional Rom-Com Adventure
‘Shotgun Wedding’ is neither based on real events nor a book. It is an original story written by Mark Hammer. Jason Moore, who has previously worked on comedies like ‘Pitch Perfect’ and ‘Sisters’, got interested in directing the film because it had the elements of the romantic comedy genre mixed with action and adventure. Reportedly, the film was pitched as ‘Die Hard’ at a destination wedding. For Moore, finding the balance between the action, the comedy, and the romance in ‘Shotgun Wedding’ was key, much like he believes happens in the Bruce Willis film.
When Jennifer Lopez came on board, the director collaborated with her to get down the specifics of Darcy’s character. Considering that the film flips the gender roles in the sense that the bride doesn’t want the lavish wedding, but the groom is obsessed with every detail, Lopez, Moore, and Josh Duhamel (who plays Tom) discussed what this would look like in the real world. This also gave a lot of ground to establish the relationship between Tom and Darcy, what connects them and what are the things that can threaten to tear them apart.
“The relationship is kind of complex in the movie. They’re having trouble at the beginning of the movie. The wedding is causing them a lot of anxiety, which is true for a lot of couples. So we talked a lot about marriage in those conversations, and what it is to fall in love with each other. So it was a very trusting, honest, and fun process with the two of them,” Moore said. Similarly, for the rest of the actors too, a little history was thrown into the mix to give them an idea of their motivations. Improv was also encouraged, with Jennifer Coolidge taking every opportunity to add a new twist to a scene.
One of the more challenging parts of filming was the action scenes, which were rather demanding. However, Moore’s experience on Broadway made him see the similarities between choreography and action. “You can see that choreography is a lot like action. It has to be rehearsed, it has to be carefully planned so no one bumps into each other. It has to build, it has to have rhythm, and good choreography has a story in it, and so does action,” he said. He, and the rest of the crew, also tried to see the action scenes from different perspectives trying to come up with something that feels realistic for a person to do but is also funny and engaging.
With all its comedy and action scenes, for Lopez, the film is about family. “It’s an adventure, but the core of it, is about these families coming together and my character Darcy and Josh’s character, Tom really figuring out who they are and how and if they can make this marriage work. They start off on different ends of the spectrum of what they want, not just from the wedding, but also from their relationship,” said the ‘Hustlers’ actress. With all this in mind, we infer that while ‘Shotgun Wedding’ is entirely fictional, its heart is in the right place, touching up the issues that represent the struggles of a real relationship.
