It's as politely dull as the generically benign phrase of its title.

The movie builds with a tragic eloquence that's haunting while at the same time delivering a justifiably tear-filled coda that had me smiling in hopeful exuberance.

The film may help Downton Abbey fanatics looking to kill a little time in that era but holds little cinematic appeal for the rest of us.

..this costume drama set in the lull between World Wars is drawn from Julia Strachey's 1932 novella (apparently much-loved by Virginia Woolf) and proves to be almost impossibly English.

With the critical narrative information delayed until the film's final moments, it's a waiting game for the audience, not unpleasurably spent watching the gorgeous costumes and eccentric behaviour of the family and friends of an anxious bride.

If you're seriously white-knuckling for a dose of English Period Countryside Romanticism while waiting for Downton's next season to roll, Cheerful Weather for the Wedding will be like methadone: it's not going to satisfy you, but it may relieve your itch.

The film builds up to something that never comes.

Period drama has simmering conflict, lacks resolution.

There's more to period drama than nice frocks and acerbic asides.

A languid film that fizzles from the start.

A very mannered but deadly dull period piece drama of partially upended, stuffy social customs, and a ruinous vehicle for the incandescence of Felicity Jones.

Rice does a fine job of juggling so many characters and moving smoothly among flashbacks without losing sight of the main story.

What it doesn't have is drama or wisdom or comedy or heat, something to temper the banalities.

Something happened, you see, and someone or other felt something about it. Why that should matter, why we should care, is lost in a string of bons mots, sidelong glances and frocks.

Not to say it isn't an enjoyable diversion. Just that it's also a superficial one.

The glossy appearance and trappings may evoke standard Anglophile nostalgia, but below the veneer is a cynical portrait of bored, shallow Britons halfheartedly going through the motions of a celebration.

The dominance of the madcap side of the film's split personality lays an airy veneer over Dolly and Joseph's woes, making them seem inconsequential - as unsubstantial as an observation about wedding-day weather.

The Donald Rice film suffers most from an excessively blunt approach.

Strictly recommended for the besotted Anglophile set who revel in watching endless versions of the privileged set enjoying their privileges.