The Wedding Ringer, the Kevin Hart and Josh Gad comedy opened today to less than stellar reviews from the film’s top critics.

In The Wedding Ringer, Gad plays the eternally friendless Doug Harris, who is hard-pressed to recruit seven groomsmen to match his wife’s (Kaley Cuoco) seven bridesmaids for her dream wedding. She doesn’t know about Doug’s pitiable bro roster, so he needs to fill up the slots for his half of the wedding party fast. Enter Jimmy Callahan (Hart). Jimmy is a best man for hire who can also procure groomsmen, throw an epic bachelor party and do everything a man’s closest pal would do on the weekend leading up to his wedding. Jokes and gags ensue.

‘The Wedding Ringer’ Reviews

Though Hart has had a string of box office hits, critics are underwhelmed with his latest vehicle in which Hart tries his hand at playing the straight man next to Gad’s more over-the-top performance. The film is accused of being far too reminiscent of predecessors The Hangover and Wedding Crashers without bringing enough new concepts to the subgenre. Despite the many scathing notices, the film did receive a few glowing reviews from critics who felt the cheap comedy was wealthy in laughs.

“The Wedding Ringer is such a crudely edited, slapdash affair it often forgets about the characters it has introduced—especially the women. Chauvinism drips from this film more profusely than sweat from Hart and Gad as they try to force its tired material to work. Unless your idea of the ultimate screen comedy is to witness how many different ways a fat guy can fall down in one film, you’re probably better off breaking off this engagement.” – Jason Clark, Entertainment Weekly

“Almost every beat of “The Wedding Ringer” is telegraphed, including the dips into gross-out humor and the Adam Sandler-esque celeb cameos. There’s a football game with Gretchen’s dad’s pals, played by Joe Namath and a team of ex-athletes. Within such a preprogrammed event, Hart’s funny, dervish energy is mostly wasted. But within the movie’s way-too-long running time are a few good riffs, including a bachelor’s-day “abduction” of Doug that goes awry and an impromptu dance lesson Doug gives Jimmy while they crash a stranger’s wedding.” – Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News

“Twice during Jeremy Garelick’s marvelously oddball, potty-mouthed, yet deeply touching comedy, The Wedding Ringer, I almost passed out, hyperventilating after uncontrollable bursts of hyena laughs. It took a full evening’s rest for the ache to dissipate from the belly. […] A riotous celebration of love and friendship that has far more heart than Hangover or any of its glib, crude ilk, The Wedding Ringer is about the bromance between a friendless groom (Josh Gad) and the professional best man (Kevin Hart) he hires for his wedding.” – Tirdad Derakhshani, Philadelphia Inquirer

“The Wedding Ringer is vaguely more tolerable than you might expect – enjoyable, even, in sporadic bursts. Let’s put it this way: If you’re at the multiplex in the middle of the afternoon, and The Wedding Ringer is the only movie playing at a time that’s convenient, you won’t be completely miserable. This is not exactly a ringing endorsement, I realize. But you take life’s tiny pleasures where you can find them.” – Christy Lemire, RogerEbert.com

The Wedding Ringer, rated R, is currently in wide release.