Table 19 is a solid sketch comedy concept - a quirky table of oddball, mismatched wedding guests at the bottom of the acquaintance food chain - a trifle built to go down easy with even a modest amount of charm applied. Add in a winning cast (Anna Kendrick, Lisa Kudrow, Craig Robinson, June Squibb, Tony Revolori, and Stephen Merchant) and this should be a recipe for some simple pleasures at the very least.
Forget for a moment that the film goes to great lengths to prove to us that this ensemble amounts to anything less than the Cool Table. You’re trying to tell me I wouldn’t leap at the opportunity to get weird with Kudrow and Squibb at a tacky wedding? Hmmmmm.
Manuel here. There is nothing funnier (I guess?) than a wedding, which explains why Table 19 is the latest comedy to tackle the hilarity of seeing two people profess their love to one another in as public a venue as one can imagine. I joke, though I have to admit this sub-genre has many great examples to justify its continued deployment: Father of the Bride, Bridesmaids, My Best Friend's Wedding, Muriel's Wedding, Four Weddings and a Funeral. Heck, even Wedding Crashers and The Wedding Singer have their charm.
Will Table 19 join that esteemed group? Let's take a look at its poster:
- Can we all agree this is a pitch perfect teaser poster? It gives you a sense of tone and setting with one simple image. I do wish we'd gotten fancier nail art though.
- "Don't Fit In. Take A Number" strikes me as a better tagline for a comedy set in a deli, a butcher shop, or somewhere else where you'd take appointments. (Rather than a wedding where you just get a number assigned to you, no?)
- What I love about this cast is that it perfectly captures the very spirit of a random table at a wedding. What could they possibly have in common but mere contiguity? Just thinking of the comedic stylings of Stephen Merchant hilariously (one hopes) clashing with those of Craig Robinson is surely one of the selling points.
- The promise of Kendrick and Kudrow in a film is enough to get me to buy a ticket, though now I'm wishing Kudrow had invited the Pitch Perfect star to do an episode of Web Therapy.
- So glad Revolori (so great in The Grand Budapest Hotel) will be back in our screens. Now if only he'd dragged Mr. Gustave himself with him as his +1. They'd fit right in with the teaser poster's color scheme.
- Is June Squibb the best recent example of an Oscar nomination breathing life into a character actress' career? I didn't much care for her in Nebraska but I've been happy to see her pop here (Girls) and there (Getting On).
- January 2017? Oy. I'll try not to read too much into that release date but I already foresee it getting lost in the shuffle of the New Year cinematic doldrums (Oscar players aside).
Oh, and the trailer is up but they had me at the cast and I'm too scared to realize the parts may be greater than the sum, so take a look at give it your own YNMS in the comments.
Thursday, March 2, 2017 at 9:30PM 
