Peter McGinn

After watching Top End Wedding, I am a bit surprised at the so-so rating here. Okay, it has no violence, sex or scatological humor, which is expected by some viewers, but I found it to be quite entertaining with no obvious weaknesses. It is not your typical rom-com as the two couples involved are already together when the movie starts and there are no love triangles involved. A couple of near-stereotypes come into play: the young woman, Ada, who strives for success but is faced with having to work an excessive number of hours to deserve a promotion she is offered, and her blunt female boss who expects that type of obedience and seems not to care about her as a person. But she does develop as a character and her attitude changes somewhat, which was nice to see. The plot involves Ada accepting a marriage proposal but being given ten days to arrange and pull off the wedding and honeymoon. The complication is that, back home, her mother has left Ada’s father and she doesn’t want to get married without her. So they go back to her home town and after visiting her distraught father, they hit the road to find her mother. The mother is an indigenous person and there is a wonderful peek into that culture, accompanied by great music. I will stop here rather than risk giving any of the minor plot twists away, but will only say that her boss plays into the second half of the movie with that character growth I mentioned above. She is still pushy and somewhat bossy, but it is redirected in a more positive outlet. Suffice to say I enjoyed the movie and definitely plan to watch it again.