Shelley Long is well past her prime in this flimsy comedy. Barely raising a smile with her goofy antics and horribly unflattering wardrobe, she plays a hard-nosed magazine editor who persuades her jilted-at-the-altar offspring (Virginia Williams) to use her honeymoon for a mother-daughter holiday. Naturally, mum has ulterior motives for tagging along; making their already antagonistic relationship doubly fraught once the truth emerges. Though Long's sharp tongue and brusque media ways are meant to be funny in a fish-out-of-water manner, they actually feel forced and rather ridiculous; falling flat along with the film's more physical gags. A predictable resolution adds to the clichéd mediocrity, tying up events with the usual rash of life re-evaluations and reconciliations.

When Shannon is dumped at the altar, her single mother, Marla, suggests they take the planned honeymoon to a remote island resort together. Marla, a publisher of a top magazine, tells Shannon that the trip to paradise will make their relationship stronger, but she has ulterior motives: she needs a big interview to help her magazine, and the resort owner is the perfect catch.