Movie Review: Kristin Scott Thomas directs Scarlett Johansson in comedic drama 'My Mother’s Wedding'

Before Kristin Scott Thomas turned 12, she lost her father and stepfather. Both were Royal Navy pilots who died in crashes. The first happened when she was 5. The second at age 11. Thomas uses these facts, a kind of origin story, as the basis for her directorial debut, “My Mother’s Wedding,” a comedic drama about family, trauma and getting on with it that opens in theaters Friday.

Knowing that the story comes from a real place is important for the experience. It gives “My Mother’s Wedding,” a perfectly average film that doesn’t quite land the way it should, an emotional depth that it’s otherwise lacking. This is a strange shortcoming considering the caliber of the cast, including Thomas as the bride to be, and Sienna Miller, Emily Beecham and Scarlett Johansson as her daughters. But it’s a cruel reminder that a good hook, talented actors, one killer monologue and a picturesque setting (in this case, the English countryside) aren’t guarantees that a movie will work.

In the film, the deaths may be in the distant past, but they continue to haunt Diana’s (Thomas) adult daughters as she prepares to marry another. Diana’s new man is not a dashing pilot, forever preserved in handsome youth. Geoffrey (James Fleet) is very gray. He likes to talk about birds, ospreys in particular, has never had children and comes with a very silly last name (Loveglove) that she plans to take. Her girls are not exactly impressed, though they’ve all got their own stuff to deal with.

It should be said that Johansson is indeed playing a British woman in this film, and while I don't feel qualified to comment on the nuances of her accent, all I can say is that there is a consistently strange disconnect to hear it coming out of her mouth. Johansson is a great actor who I’ve believed in many wilder roles, from Marvel movies right on down to her Ellen Greene riff during “Saturday Night Live’s” 50th anniversary show. But, somehow, she’s hard to buy as Katherine Frost: A British, lesbian Royal Navy officer in a longtime relationship with a woman named Jack (played by fellow beauty Freida Pinto).

Miller’s character is Victoria, a Hollywood actor known for franchise dreck (no one can remember whether the latest “Dame Of Darkness” is the fourth or fifth in the series) and short-lived relationships. And Beecham is the youngest Georgina, a nurse who suspects that her husband is having an affair. To find out, the girls hire a private detective to surveil her house and show them the footage after the wedding.

It's a very busy, fraught weekend for everyone. There’s lots of fretting over why Katherine won’t marry Jack, and why Victoria is dancing around a relationship with a wealthy, older French man when her childhood crush still pines for her. There’s lingering anxiety about their mom marrying this man who seems so unlike the two heroes that came before and much discussion about the importance of last names, marriage and making sure kids feel like they belong to someone. Some things get resolved, but it's hard to shake the feeling that everyone might need a new therapist by the end.

“My Mother’s Wedding” also has a silly lightness to it that’s aiming for something along the lines of a Richard Curtis romantic comedy. But coherency of the vision is limited, as is the audience’s investment, though there are some lovely and inspired touches like using Iranian artist Reza Riahi to hand paint several animated flashback vignettes based on her memories of her fathers.

Thomas co-wrote the script with her husband, journalist John Micklethwait, which includes a particularly poignant monologue for her character telling her daughters, essentially, to grow up and move on — a mature and worthy statement that might come a bit too late. “My Mother’s Wedding” feels only partially realized.

But Thomas did have the good sense to end with a song that might just conjure up some feelings for any “Heartburn” fans out there: Carly Simon’s “Coming Around Again,” this time a duet with Alanis Morissette.

“My Mother’s Wedding,” a Vertical release in theaters Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “brief nudity, some sexual material and language.” Running time: 95 minutes. Two stars out of four.