OK. So there’s this, like, couple, right? Well, it’s actually more like two couples. And they’re all, like, best friends, y’know? Well, it’s more like the two guys are best friends and the two girls are, like, sisters, but you get the picture. Anyway, the one couple is, like, totally engaged, and the other couple … well, like, the guy is, like, soooooooo completely in love with the girl he’s, like, already bought the ring and what not. And the girl, well, she’s like totally into him too. I mean, it’s like the two of them can, like, totally talk about their farts and what not, and it’s like no big thing. And yet she’s still not quite there in terms of, like, making a lifelong commitment, y’know? And, oh yeah – I almost forgot – the chick? She, like, totally works at this little indie bookstore. In fact, she’s, like, so indie bookstore that these guys actually refer to her as “Bookstore Girl”. Bookstore girl? I mean, can you even imagine? Meanwhile, the other couple? They’re like planning this, like, TOTAL hipster wedding with organic catering and music by iPod, and the invites are like completely DIY and what not. And, oh yeah, the two sisters, they’re, like, always saying “Really?” back and forth in time. Like, like, like, Really? Really? Really? Really. And the two guys, they’re in a band together, see? And, like, all four of them regularly insert necessary plot points into everyday conversation like it’s no big thing, y’know? And the four of them, they’re, like, all super-dry. Like, like, like dripping-with-sarcasm super-dry, OK? And so, like, one night toward the end of this totally killer gig, the lead singer of the band – a band named Wolfbird, BTdubs – well, anyway, he, like, totally decides to just go ahead and propose to the other sister right there and then, in front of like, a million people. And you, like, won’t even guess what happens next, but …

Exhausted? Me too. Anyway, that just about sums up what the first 40 minutes of Save the Date feels like. Somewhere during the second hour, the film actually manages to settle into its pace, adding some worthwhile charm and magnetism to the mix. What’s more? Save the Date also manages to get a lot of stuff right down the stretch. But it puts the audience through stiff rigors in order to get where it’s going. And, in the final analysis, the ends simply do not justify the means.

Bottom line: Save the Date is perfect for anyone out there who simply could not get enough of Celeste and Jesse Forever. Otherwise, well, you get the idea.

(Save The Date opens in limited release in NY and LA this Friday. It is also available now via OnDemand.)