At thirty-five, Rosie is much older than Doug’s usual fling. Still, her spontaneity and impulsiveness win him over. She reciprocates his interest, and Doug and Rosie quickly fall in like and lust with each other. This would be a good thing if romantic tension were maintained by other means. Unfortunately, Rosie and Doug don’t have much else keeping them apart, so there isn’t much conflict. When a tiny intimation of one crops up close to the end, it is so forced and contrived, it should have been omitted.

What conflict there is comes from the non-romance plot and specifically from the goals Doug and Rosie set themselves: straighten out this mess of a wedding. They immediately see that the bride isn’t in love with the groom. They also know that Lili-beth’s mother is too preoccupied with pulling off the social event of the decade to notice. The fact that Bettie is pursuing other interests and has her own marital problems doesn’t help. So Doug and Rosie happily step in.

They quickly sense that the bride’s childhood friend is in love with her, but is much too wet behind his ears to tell her. In fact, Delwood has volunteered to be the best man to help her out. He’s also offered to trap squirrels and drop them off at an animal shelter so that they won’t be decimated with B-B guns. I get the friendly spirit; I get the sensitive soul; but I don’t get why he dresses up in a goofy outfit. If he wants to protect himself from rabies, then maybe he should have re-thought his concern for the furry creatures’ plight. Dullwood, as he should have been named, is one knight in shining armor who needs all the help he can get.

Not that I cared. Given that both he and his beloved are blander than plain yogurt, neither get much sympathy from me. I quickly lost all interest in their story. The groom’s behavior doesn't help. It’s so glaringly suspicious he is practically wandering around with a giant “bad guy” sign above his head. This makes it hard to credit Rosie and Doug with profound insights into human nature and even harder to warm to Bettie’s problems.

Everybody comes from wealthy families of illustrious ancestry. I’m all for a bit of escapism into the lives of the rich and famous, but don’t expect me to sympathize with their petty non-problems. Doug and Rosie’s playful banter managed to tug an occasional smile on my lips, but not enough for me to hike up my rating. There simply isn’t enough plot, character development or wit to join the happy chorus and give Everything’s Coming up Rosie passing marks.

--Mary Benn