the audience applauded

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Among the most boring movies i have ever viewed. Tries to be some sort of hip version of "The Big Chill," but just terrible story line. Most of the acting is borderline juvenile with long shots of men staring at the model. She is cute to be sure, but in no way an interesting actor. The drug scenes are all shot in the truck for some unknown reason. There are several instances where the movie tries to be a little bit titillating, but the overall effect is weird or just not understandable, e.g., the truck scene with the cop and jumper cables. The men especially run off in different directions or get into strange fights and conversations. A most forgettable movie in all respects -- i do not see how this movie deserves anything but one star.

It's New Year's Eve and we have an assembly of couples all in varying stages of happiness, meaning unhappiness, in their relationships. But each relationship status is likely to change when Helena shows up. You know, the character that we seem to know about before we've even met her, and the one that they all met at the wedding. Whose wedding? I don't know, just one of the unhappy nameless couples.These characters weren't all that interesting and the fact that they were having difficulty connecting with their better half was both tiresome and obvious. Of course they're having relationship difficulties – they are all alcoholics. There were more bottles of wine in that cottage than the square of the number of people there. Even the pregnant one drank, but I think we're supposed to forgive her because marriage is hard.But we're not watching to focus on the peripheral characters or the wine, we're watching for Helena. What's so special about Helena? She's sexy. She's blonde and a model. Other than that I don't know what's so special about her, she hardly speaks. Gillian Jacobs is a better actress than one would assume based on her sitcom résumé, but here they gave her some weird accent so maybe it is best she says nothing.Once Lee Tergesen and the beautiful Melanie Lynskey get me connected to them, and I almost start caring about what will happen with Helena in the picture, the credits roll. Well they gave each other a look first. The kind of look where all the answers are in the eyes. It's better to end a movie that way if the questions they answer are interesting enough in the first place. Helena who? From which wedding? It's all quite forgettable since it's too hard to care enough to come up with your own answers.

Helena from the Wedding is a classic example of a film written with a single idea in mind, then stretched out to fill a 90-minute run time. In this film, eight seemingly happy friends spend New Year's together in a cabin in the woods, though over the course of the story, we find out that the characters are each struggling with different levels of unhappiness. In this type of story, typically the characters go on a journey of self-discovery that leads to personal growth by the end of the film. In Helena, however, nothing ever really happens. The writer does a good job of fleshing out the different character's mental anguish, but then fails to deliver on the follow through on their collective stories. As soon as the credits started rolling, I scratched my head and asked: "Soooo... what happens now?" That's not really a desirable place to leave a viewer at the end of a film. Especially one that wasn't intended to leave an opening for a sequel. It was a valiant effort, but I think the writer/director can do better.

A well written script with skilled direction of a terrific cast! The characters are representative of many we all know. Each character's story is one the viewers will be familiar with and it's likely they are representative of experiences we've all had or will have in the future. The appeal may be different for all age groups. Having been married for 45 years I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and those the same age as the cast/characters will have a different perspective but I am certain their reaction will be just as thought provoking as i found the movie to be. Mr.Infantolino has a promising future in film and I look forward to his next one!