My Mother’s Wedding

Feel free to send your regrets to My Mother’s Wedding, which isn’t worth celebrating despite a star-studded guest list.

This tender and heartfelt exploration of female relationships and intergenerational dynamics — obviously a deeply personal directorial debut for esteemed actress Kristin Scott Thomas — is undermined by heavy-handed sentimentality.

Thomas also stars as Diana, who is twice widowed and preparing for a third marriage to mild-mannered Geoff (James Fleet), which lures Diana’s three daughters back for a weekend at their English childhood home.

Each has their own issues, however. Katherine (Scarlett Johansson) has followed her late father’s footsteps into military service but can’t seem to determine where girlfriend Jack (Freida Pinto) or her kids fit into the picture. And she doesn’t want Diana to take her new husband’s last name.

Victoria (Sienna Miller) is a glamorous Hollywood actress who can’t confront the past or settle down with the right man, and Georgina (Emily Beecham) is a nurse who has hired a private detective to prove her husband is having an affair.

Diana doesn’t get nearly as much screen time as her offspring, but it becomes apparent that she’s present to some extent within each of them. So are their respective fathers, the memories of which trigger their residual grief and lingering hostility that threaten to ruin the festivities.

Still, it’s nothing some maternal pearls of wisdom can’t handle. “I don’t care what you get up to in your own house,” Diana commands in no uncertain terms, “but in my house, you will behave and respect the man I have just married.”

The trio of lead actresses establishes a convincing chemistry as bickering siblings, although they’re not exactly pleasant company between the self-absorption or the unresolved dirty laundry.

Plus, the melodramatic screenplay by Thomas and real-life husband John Micklethwait doesn’t leave sufficient room for character depth or emotional complexity while juggling too many subplots with varying degrees of sincerity.

Amid the forced mayhem, the film struggles to balance its comedic and dramatic elements, which tends to obscure its good-natured laughs or gentle charms.

Transparent about its chick-flick intentions, My Mother’s Wedding avoids settling for romcom cliches, yet it also unfortunately squanders a lovely visual backdrop and a sterling ensemble cast.

Rated R, 95 minutes.