This film discusses (or should I say tries to discuss) marriage equality, or better the lack of it, between straight and same sex marriages when it comes to immigration issues in the US. Why do straight couples manage to get a green card through a sham marriage but will the same thing not work for gay couples? In itself an honourable topic to discuss in a film, maybe even in a light-hearted way through a romantic comedy, but I Do definitely did not pull it off for me. Call me biased but when the producer is the screenwriter and is the main lead, all at the same time, alarm bells will start ringing with me and I’m afraid to say this film was not the exception to that rule. I have happily committed myself to writing a review for this DVD but already whilst watching it I knew it wasn’t going to be nice and in fact I am not going to waste too much breath over it.
Jack, a young, handsome, British photographer, living the life in New York, witnesses the death of his brother who is about to marry his pregnant girlfriend in a, dare I say, utterly silly car accident. Fast forward a number of years and we see that Jack’s life has become far less carefree as he is now assisting his brother’s fiancee in looking after the baby and, in doing so, ignoring all his own emotional needs. Through his immigration lawyer we are suddenly informed that, after already having resided in New York for many years, Jack’s visa will run out and is unlikely to be renewed, requiring him to move back to the UK. When Jack also suddenly runs into a handsome and single Spanish architect with US citizenship the ultimate green-card dooms on the horizon: wrong! The message that the US laws on same-sex marriage are unfair is clearly, albeit not subtlely, delivered and instead Jack and his lesbian colleague decide on a sham marriage in their attempt to misguide the US immigration authorities. In the meantime, we get to see a lot of Jack, frollicking around on screen in his pyama bottoms and showing off his buff body and pecs, in and out of the shower, and although I would normally be the last person to complain about that, it distracts from the story, doesn’t add anything to it and almost makes this film a vehicle for Jack’s (or David W. Ross’s) narcissistic needs rather than trying to get a message across. On top of that the story is lacklustre, dull and very predictable and don’t get me going about the closing scene. That’s it from me. I promised not to waste too much breath over this one but I think my thoughts about the film are clear enough.
I Do is released on DVD 28th October 2013.
Director: Glenn Gaylord
Writer: David W. Ross
Stars: David W. Ross, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Alicia Witt, Maurice Compte, Mickey Cottrell, Jessica Brown, Patricia Belcher, Grant Bowler
Runtime: 91 min approx
Country: US
Film Rating: 
