Starring Rhiannon Fish and Christopher Russell
***SPOILER ALERT***
Emily (Fish) is traveling to Costa Rica to be the maid of honor at the wedding of her best friend, Phoebe (Brittany Carel), to Jamal (Cj Hammond). She’s brought their heirloom wedding rings with her. After she arrives there, Ryan (Russell), a local tour guide and Jamal’s best man, picks her up from the airport. The two already know each other and she gives him a chilly reception, the reason for this unclear. During a beach trip, a capuchin monkey steals Emily’s backpack, and to her horror, she realizes that she left the wedding rings in it. Accompanied by Ryan, she frantically heads into the jungle in search of the backpack. Soon, however, they’re lost, and with nightfall coming, are no closer to their goal.
PROS
I’m usually not a fan of fumbling-around-in-the-wilderness Hallmark movies, as so often the characters demonstrate how downright dumb they are, and there’s usually too much hysteria. A recent example of this was A Whitewater Romance (2024), written by Juliana Wimbles. A Costa Rican Wedding was also penned by Wimbles, but it was better than Whitewater. If you could embrace this movie’s sheer goofiness, you might have found it amusing.
Rhiannon Fish as Emily. You only have to watch My Norwegian Holiday (2023) to see what a versatile actress Fish is—equally at home with comedy or drama. She demonstrated her acting chops here too. Fish painted Emily as feisty and impulsive. She went off half-cocked into the jungle, unprepared for the realities of such a trek.
Emily always meant well but habitually messed things up, so much so that Phoebe’s nasty mother, Sue (Maureen Kedes), called her Emily Calamity. Because Phoebe loved her friend unconditionally, she trusted her with the rings, but others often looked at Emily with contempt. I felt a bit sorry for her; she was trying her best to make things right for Phoebe and Jamal. We should all be so lucky as to have a friend as loyal as Emily.
She could also be kind and encouraging, tending to Ryan’s injuries and guiding him across a suspension bridge when he was anxious. Fish showed Emily’s vulnerability when the character realized her feelings for Ryan. The best scene occurred when she told Ryan she’d been missing out on life by constantly checking up on her ex-boyfriend, and that she no longer needed him to choose her, as she was choosing herself. Fish evoked plenty of emotion here.
Christopher Russell as Ryan. Russell had a string of roles in which he wasn’t required to do much but look good, but recently he’s stretched himself—with excellent results. He was terrific opposite Fish, more animated than he’s often been in his movies. Though Emily didn’t like Ryan much, he mostly tolerated her, only blowing up once after she accused him of enjoying watching her fail. He was sympathetic when she confessed that the rings were in the backpack. Ryan also protected her, ensuring she wasn’t attacked by a deadly snake. He became devoted to helping Emily, even enlisting the help of Estaban (Pedro Jose Sanchez Rovira) to help them find the monkey colonies.
Monkey business. The quest for the backpack allowed Fish to show comedic flair. Emily awkwardly climbed a tree (stepping on Ryan’s face), slid down a slippery hill, fell out of a hammock when a spider crawled on her, and landed in a mud pit, taking Ryan with her. She was funny to watch, and even funnier when she was talking to the monkeys. In her desperation to find her backpack, she called out, “Here, monkey, monkey!” Emily also attempted to lure them with a banana and asked one monkey to get his friend with the backpack to come down from the trees. Yes, this was silly, but in a delightful, screwball comedy sort of way.
A wedding salvaged. Emily didn’t find the rings, so Phoebe’s mom started planning a stuffy country club wedding. Then Estaban found the backpack! Emily immediately set to work to give Phoebe and Jamal their dream Costa Rican wedding. Emily, who’d been ordained online, officiated a splendid ceremony beside a breathtaking waterfall. She saved the day for the bridal couple, redeeming herself in the process. It was a fitting ending.
CONS
A flimsy reason, and too much resentment. For much of the film, viewers didn’t know why Emily held such a dim view of Ryan. Then the reason was revealed: Ryan had been cool to her because he didn’t like how her boyfriend was treating her. She thought Ryan disliked her, but he was actually hiding his true feelings for her. And she became cool to him in return. The reason was underwhelming—to justify the animosity, it should have been something bigger. And this movie would have been sweeter if the resentment hadn’t lasted so long, as the scenes that showed Emily and Ryan bonding were the best in the film.
Fumbling around in the wilderness. Yes, there was certainly some of this. Ryan was a tour guide, yet he and Emily still managed to get lost. And the need for food and water was overlooked; no one mentioned being hungry or thirsty. Yet Ryan was equipped with a hammock, as if he expected an overnight stay. Go figure.
My grade for A Costa Rican Wedding: B
Caroline Kaiser is a professional book editor who specializes in fiction and memoirs, and she’s been guiding writers toward publication since 2007. Caroline is also the author of two ghostly mystery novels, Virginia’s Ghost and The Spirits of South Drive. Before she embarked on an editing and writing career, she spent many years working in a Toronto auction house as an antiques appraiser. Apart from curling up on the couch and drinking tea as she watches Hallmark movies, Caroline enjoys baking and exploring London, Ontario, the picturesque city she now calls home. Her website is www.carolinekaisereditor.com.
