Although a box-office success, this remake of the classic domestic comedy stands largely on the excellent performance of lead actor Steve Martin, who is not well served by a clichéd script. In a typically adept and entertaining star turn, Martin is delightful as a father baffled and increasingly irate at the mounting costs of his daughter's wedding (in one of the film's funniest sequences, he daydreams about an inexpensive backyard barbecue of a wedding). Unfortunately, the scenes involving the father-daughter relationship at the center of the film are cloying, and most of the rest of the script is borrowed from other, better films of the genre, such as Betsy's Wedding (1990) and Martin's own Parenthood (1989). Particularly annoying is the character of Franck Eggelhoffer who, although played with admirable zeal by Martin Short, is clearly "inspired" by the similar role filled in Beverly Hills Cop (1984) by Bronson Pinchot. Although one would be foolish to expect a remake to be original, Father of the Bride coasts too much on the ample talents of its likable star.