A Simple Wedding

By: Maggie Stankiewicz

In this day and age levity is an invaluable commodity. Luckily, A Simple Wedding is a blithe romantic comedy that brings together unconventional characters for eighty-eight minutes of airy escape. Director Sara Zandieh co-wrote this hidden gem of a film alongside Stephanie Wu in what can undoubtedly be referred to as both their first feature film and breakout success. A Simple Wedding is a formulaic rom-com at its core, but it introduces characters seldom seen on the big (or small) screens that not only fills droughts in proper representation for Iranian Americans but bisexual men in the mainstream. This delightful, lighthearted film is one that you do not want to miss out on.

Attorney Nousha Hassani (Tara Grammy) is a little bit of a mess, but at the end of the day all she wants to do is make her Persian parents happy. This leads to a dead-end engagement to a man who enlists his mother to help dump her in the midst of a family meeting. Disappointed and disillusioned at the notion of love, Nousha writes it off and focuses on bigger things – like intersectional feminism and protests intended to dismantle the patriarchy. In the midst of one of these protests  she meets Alex Talbot (Christopher O’Shea). He is everything that her parents would not approve of; as a white bisexual artist and activist who lives in a warehouse. Naturally, Nousha falls in love with him hard and fast.

Their relationship is about as healthy as you can home for in cinema and it’s refreshing to see a leading man identify as bisexual without his sexual orientation ever being a point of contention for his partner. Too often bisexuality is depicted as a personality trait that wedges itself between partners, but in A Simple Wedding Alex’s bisexuality is a fact of life yet it is never used as a plot device. Instead, the biggest problems faced by Alex and Nousha are their equally insane but vastly different families and Nousha’s apparent fear of commitment. When it’s revealed that Alex and Nousha are living together before marriage, Nousha’s parents pressure the couple into enduring…a simple wedding.

But between Alex’s gay fathers Bill (Peter Mackenzie) and Steven (James Eckhouse), and his eccentric albeit captivating mother Maggie (Rita Wilson) and Nousha’s traditional parents, Ziba (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and Reza (Houshang Touzie) – nothing is ever simple. The families get along well enough, but their cultural differences plant seeds of doubt within Nousha that result in her breaking Alex’s heart. By the time their issues get resolved, Maggie is in love with Nousha’s Uncle Saman (Maz Jobrani) – further complicating an already tangled web of irreverent characters. That’s the beauty of this little film though. It follows the standard procedure of a romantic comedy of boy meets girl, they fall in love, they fight and then they reunite, but the characters do not fit neatly into boxes. They are heightened versions of people you know and love instead of carbon-copied inserts.

The chemistry shared by the cast is enough to make the Periodic table jealous, and the ensemble brings about diversity in experiences, strengths, and personality that is hard to find in films of any caliber. Every single performance deserves to be celebrated, from Nousha’s relatable sloppiness, to Ziba’s impossibly high standards, and Bill’s frustrations with Maggie. There are no bad characterizations, and each actor brings their characters to life in ways that make them impossible to hate, or forget in the context of the film.

Part of what makes A Simple Wedding such a joy to watch is the obvious craftsmanship that went into the film. Not a high budget film by any means, debut director Sara Zandieh is meticulous in her shot selection. What’s more impressive than the vibrant set dressings and pleasant framing, Zandieh pulled exceptional performance from every actor – from seasoned vets like Rita Wilson to leading lady Tara Grammy and other newer performers. The shot choices, cinematography and creative direction come together seamlessly for a spirited directorial premiere.

It’s hard to watch A Simple Wedding and not feel happy. Its most chaotic moments are laced with heartfelt humor, the motivations and failures of every character are relatable. And even when they stumble, you know that they’ll redeem themselves. The characters to its principal photography are bright, cheery and full of life. And while I dare say that the pacing of this film and the tightness of the script were close to flawless, the ending still felt like it came all too quickly. The world created for A Simple Wedding is one that you won’t want to leave. In fact, you’ll probably want to stick around a while to share a tequila with Maggie, check your ego with Ziba and be a fly on the wall to Alex and Nousha’s banter. This film is the first star’s twinkle on an otherwise cloudy night.