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Film: The Wedding Singer

Who could say no to a face like this?

Father of the Bride: Hey, buddy, I'm not paying you to hear your thoughts on life. I'm paying you to sing.

Robbie Hart: Well, I have a microphone, and you don't, SO YOU WILL LISTEN TO EVERY DAMN WORD I HAVE TO SAY!

A Romantic Comedy made in 1998, starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore.

Robbie Hart is the titular wedding singer who is all set to be married to his girlfriend, Linda. She leaves him at the altar. His friend Julia tries to cheer him up, and asks him to help her with her wedding. He agrees, and the two begin to fall in love. There is a problem, however- Julia is engaged to Glenn. And this we mention this story is set in 1985, just so they can make a bunch of jokes about CD players, Van Halen, and the like?

It's a cute '90s movie with likeable characters and a cute ending. What's not to love?

There was also a stage musical based on the film.

Tropes include:

Anything That Moves: The cook. He treats Holly well because she showed him her boobs, tries to get Julia to do the same, and is clearly enjoying his dance with Sammy halfway through the film (while grabbing his ass, no less; It Makes Sense in Context).
Anti-Love Song / Break Up Song: "Love Stinks", which is, believe it or not, a real song, recorded by The J. Geils Band in 1980.
As Himself: Billy Idol
Bitter Wedding Speech: Twice. Before Linda leaves Robbie, the best man at one of the weddings he performs at gives one; Robbie does his best to smooth it over. After Linda leaves Robbie, he gives one himself at another performance.
Blackmail: Robbie gets Sammy to pay for a first-class ticket to Las Vegas by threatening to tell everyone what Sammy said at the bar the night before.
The Cameo: Billy Idol helps Robbie tell Julia his true feelings on the plane. Then he offers him a record deal.
The Casanova: Sammy admits in the opening act that he wants to be like Fonzie. Glenn is also one of these, and doesn't plan to stop even after he gets married.
- Later, however, Sammy admits to Robbie that he's not at all happy with his lifestyle.
Cloud Cuckoolander: The old guy at the bar.
Creator Breakdown: Parodied (and expertly summarized) Robbie's breakdown occurred while he was writing a love song for the woman who would later leave him at the altar; the lyrics and style of that song start with fluffy romance, switch suddenly to extreme rage, dissolve into shocked sadness, and finally end with despairing "kill me now" Wangst.
Deadpan Snarker: Robbie alternates between this and Large Ham.
Despair Speech: Robbie gets a despair song.
Disposable Fianc�: The "evil all along" variation.
- Robbie was this to his fianc�e Linda, but since he's the central character, her decision to leave him is portrayed as shallow and mean. Even so, Linda is less cartoonishly evil than Glen, who is depicted as a being violent, lecherous and liar.
Drowning My Sorrows: When Robby believes that he's lost Julia forever, he goes to a bar and gets drunk.
Dumb Blonde: Holly, from both the movie and musical versions, is both slutty and slightly dim. However in the original movie, Julia herself was intelligent with blond hair in contrast to Robbie's stupid brunette ex, Linda. The musical reverses Julia's and Linda's hair colors, with Julia a Brainy Brunette / Girl Next Door type and Linda an even bigger Dumb Blonde than Holly and dabbling into Blondes are Evil.
The Eighties: This film is jam-packed with 1980s pop culture references.
- That said, some of these references may come across as slightly anachronistic, e.g. a reference to Dallas and the infamous "Who shot J.R.?" plotline, which in 1985 was already four-five years old, and the '88 mix of "Blue Monday" by New Order being played at the disco. Then again, the film is a period piece.
'80s Hair: Seen everywhere, and lampshaded with the Flock of Seagulls fan who works as a ticket clerk at the airport.
Embarassing Last Name: If she marries Glenn and takes his name, her new name will be "Julia Guglia" (pronounced Goo-lia).
Final Love Duet: The Musical has three for Robbie and Julia. "If I Told You", "If I Told You (Reprise)", and the final final duet, "Grow Old With You" (which, by the way, is now a duet).
Five-Man Band: In the musical:
- The Hero: Robbie
- The Lancer: Sammy
- The Smart Guy: Julia
- The Big Guy: George
- The Chick: Holly
- Team Mom: Grandma
In Love with Love: Applies somewhat to Robbie, who has dreamed of falling in love and getting married since he was little.
It Will Never Catch On: Combined with Analogy Backfire in hindsight: Sammy talks about being miserable because he never settled down, saying that he modelled his look after Vinnie Barbarino (played by John Travolta) and how "[Travolta's] show got cancelled!" because "No one wants to see a fifty-year-old guy hitting on chicks". Travolta, of course, ended up having a big comeback with Pulp Fiction and became a sex symbol again.
- Also used in the musical during Glen's number, where he comments that "nobody would pay $3 for a cup of coffee" and "Betamax... It's genius! Buy as much stock as you can!"
- Other versions of the song replace Beta with New Coke.
- Holly's frustrated opinion of the Rubik's Cube.
Jerk Ass: Glenn Gulia nicely fills the "dick boyfriend" role that many romantic comedies have.
- Jimmie (Jon Lovitz) as the creepy, lecherous and ridiculous wedding singer Julia refuses to hire.
"He's losing his mind...and I'm reaping all the benefits!"
- Julia's shallow Rich Bitch mother.
- Also Linda, the woman who left Robbie at the altar.
Heel Realization: Robby has one after he drives Julia away by implying that she's only marrying Glenn because he's rich.
Robbie: I am an asshole!
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Sammy.
Love Epiphany
Mister Sandman Sequence: How the Film opens.
The Musical
Musical World Hypotheses: Diegetic type.
Period Piece: A rather unusual one. There's really no reason why this story had to be set in 1985, thirteen years before the film's release, but it sure gives a ton of great joke opportunities.
Piss Take Rap: The Rappin' Granny.
Playing Against Type: Up to The Wedding Singer, most of Sandler's roles had been immature guys who eventually revealed a more sensitive side. This was the first role of his to be a fairly straightforward nice-guy-with-underdog-tones, and that eventually became his new type.
Popular History
Precision F-Strike: "I hope you fucking choke!"
Race For Your Love: The film climaxes with Robby chasing Julia through an airport in order to stop her from marrying Glenn.
Really Gets Around: Holly, by her own admission.
Rich Suitor, Poor Suitor: Glenn vs Robby.
Romantic Comedy
Runaway Bride: A rare unsympathetic view. Linda leaving Robbie at the alter makes her look like a shallow, self-centered bitch while Robbie is left heartbroken and humiliated.
Running Gag: George singing "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" whenever left alone on stage.
Screen-to-Stage Adaptation
Smug Snake: Glenn.
Something Only They Would Say: Robbie figures out that Glenn and Julia are on the same plane because one of the stewardesses said that a coach passenger told her she was "grade-A, top-choice meat." Glenn had said the same thing about a waitress halfway through the movie.
Take That: Robbie saying, "Get out of my Van Halen T-shirt before you jinx the band and they break up."
- A Call Back of sorts to the scene in Airheads when the Lone Rangers try to determine if someone is a policeman by asking who he sided with in the Van Halen vs. David Lee Roth split. The guy says "Van Halen," and they say, "He's a cop."^note
Technology Marches On: Lampshaded; Glenn brags about buying a CD player for around $1000, and Julia promptly asks to play a record on it.
Twenty Minutes into the Past: Released in 1998, takes place in 1985.
Wedding Deadline: Played straight in the musical, but averted in the film; the break-up happens on the plane to Las Vegas.