THE WEDDING SINGER. (cert 12) Running Time 99 mins. Starring Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Christine Taylor, Alexis Arquette and Angela Featherstone. THIS good, old-fashioned romantic comedy directed by Frank Coraci and written by Tim Herlihy is set in the mid 1980s and starts with Robbie Hart (played by Adam Sandler) being left standing at the altar by his fiancee.

After a brief bout of depression Robbie's spirits are lifted when he meets Julia, a waitress, (played by Drew Barrymore) at a wedding reception.

As ever in this kind of movie, Robbie and Julia are destined to be together, so when he learns that she is dating a two-timing ratbag, he tries to convince her not to marry the boyfriend and choose him instead.

All Julia wants to do is to get married and Robbie is only too eager to help her - his assistance even goes as far as rehearsing a nuptial kiss.

However, neither of them would imagine taking their little rehearsal any further. Instead, they allow a comedy of errors to rule their fate.

The Wedding Singer tries to be both funny and cute, but surprisingly it works. The film is a mix of the worst of both the 1980s and 1950s. The trashy 80's stereotypes are only sprinkled lightly on the surface of the film, which takes its cues from 50's romantic-comedies and casts bad-girl Drew as the wholesome beauty.

Adam Sandler steals the show with his charm and bad jokes: ("Well, we're living in a material world, and I'm a material girl. Or boy.") Drew Barrymore, although convincingly sweet, looks like a throw-back from Grease.

However, the two together spark some believable romantic chemistry.

The film rises to a cute, heart-warming, smile-inducing, old-fashioned finale, in which 80's pop icon Billy Idol makes an appearance.

All-in-all the film is entertaining if you like romantic comedies. Both the central characters are solid as well as the supporting cast. As a special bonus, two guest performances from Jon Lovitz who plays a rival wedding singer, and Steve Buscemi who plays a drunken wedding guest, are both credible.

If you are unsure about this film think both Meg Ryan cute and Dumb-and-Dumber funny.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.