SNL Stages A Father Of The Bride Reunion With Steve Martin, Kieran Culkin, And Martin Short
Steve Martin and Martin Short have appeared in many projects together over the years, from "Three Amigos!" to "Only Murders In The Building." Their latest collaboration was co-hosting this weekend's episode of "Saturday Night Live" — they even delivered the monologue together.
Among the episode's sketches was a send-up of "Father of the Bride," the 1991 comedy starring the pair. The second adaptation of the 1949 novel, the film featured Martin as the titular father, George Banks, who is none too pleased when his 22-year-old daughter comes home from Europe with a fiancé in tow. Meanwhile, Short played the eccentric wedding planner Franck Eggelhoffer, who pushes the event to luxurious (and expensive) extremes.
Pitching itself as "Father of the Bride Part 8," the sketch uses "SNL" regulars to fill out the original movie's supporting cast — with one exception. Kieran Culkin, who at age nine appeared as Banks' young son Matty, returns in the sketch as an adult (but still immature) version of his character. As the sketch's narrator asks: "Did you forget Kieran Culkin was in this movie? So did we."
Father of the Bride Part 8
"Father of the Bride Part 8" opens "3 decades and seven divorces" after the original film. Banks' daughter Annie (Heidi Gardner, substituting for Kimberly Williams) tells her father about her eighth engagement. George (Martin reprising his role), who is in poor financial standing after the last seven extravaganzas, mentions that Annie's mother Nina (Chloe Fineman, filling in for Diane Keaton) has started driving for Lyft due to their debts.
Unfortunately for George, Franck (Short) and his assistant Howard Weinstein (Bowen Yang instead of BD Wong) are all too happy to help their favorite clients. That's when Matty (Culkin) enters the scene; it's implied that he's still living with his parents even though he's in his forties.
Then enters the wedding's music performer: Selena Gomez, playing herself, who co-stars with Short and Martin in "Only Murders in the Building," and also joined them for the opening monologue. George is not pleased by Gomez's $1.8 million asking price, but his pleas fall on deaf ears.
This sketch isn't the first "Father of the Bride" sequel. The original film was followed by "Father of the Bride Part 2" in 1995, which focused on Annie and Nina's simultaneous pregnancies. Plans for a third film took 25 years to materialize. "Father of the Bride Part III (ish)" was released in 2020; conducted over Zoom, it featured the original cast plus newcomers like Florence Pugh, Ben Platt, Alexandra Shipp, and Robert De Niro. The book was also adapted for the third time in 2022, this time starring Andy Garcia.
While another feature-length "Father of the Bride" starring Martin and Short probably won't be making it to theaters, it's always nice to see them working together. And this time the only murder victim was George Banks' finances.