ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, December 9, 1995             TAG: 9512120008
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 12   EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW 
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT 

'BRIDE II' IS TOO SWEET FOR ITS OWN GOOD

``Father of the Bride Part II'' is inexcusably sappy.

Yes, it's a sequel to a remake so nobody expects much from it, but really, this schmaltz makes ``Free Willy'' look like ``Natural Born Killers.''

For those who missed the 1991 film, Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Kimberly Williams took the roles played by Spencer Tracy, Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor in 1950. The story is a simple romantic comedy-drama about well-to-do middle-class parents and the marriage of their daughter.

This sequel is based on ``Father's Little Dividend'' from 1951. The subject is pregnancy - two pregnancies, actually.

When daughter Annie (Williams) announces that she's expecting, it throws her father George (Martin) into a full-blown midlife crisis. He's simply too young to be a grandfather and decides that he can still look young and act young. That leads to an afternoon of friskiness - tasteful PG-friskiness, to be sure - between George and his wife Nina (Keaton), and soon she finds herself in the same state as her daughter.

Martin Short returns as Franck Eggelhoffer, the fey caterer who has somehow become an interior decorator and remodeler. He provides the only real humor in the film, particularly in his scenes with his partner Howard Weinstein (B.D. Wong, in a role that's far too small).

The rest of the script by Nancy Meyers and director Charles Shyer trots out most of the standard pregnancy bits - from strange food cravings to the panicked drive to the hospital - that have been seen countless times, most recently in ``Nine Months,'' ``Look Who's Talking'' and lots of others. On the positive side, viewers are spared another LaMaze class routine.

To be fair, those who are predisposed to this kind of slick escapism will love it. There's nothing wrong with the performances, and director of photography William Fraker gives the proceedings the satiny finish that's found only in studio backlot productions. The film takes place in an idealized suburbia of tree-lined streets, picket fences and brick walkways.

But even in Hollywood films, such perfect sweetness can quickly become cloying, and ``Father of the Bride Part II'' fairly wallows in it.

Father of the Bride

Part II

**

A Touchstone release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Valley View Mall 6.106 min. Rated PG for subject matter.

LENGTH: Medium:   53 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Kimberly Williams star in
          "Father of the Bride Part II." color.