27 Dresses (2008)

Description[from Freebase]

27 Dresses is a 2008 romantic comedy film directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Aline Brosh McKenna. The film stars Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. The film was released January 10, 2008 in Australia and opened in the United States on January 18. Jane Nichols (Katherine Heigl) has been a bridesmaid for twenty-seven weddings. One night when she is attending two weddings almost simultaneously, she meets Kevin Doyle (James Marsden), who helps her home but disgusts her with his cynical views of marriage. He finds her day planner which she'd forgotten in the cab they shared. Meanwhile, Jane's sister Tess (Malin Åkerman) falls in love with Jane's boss George (Edward Burns). Tess pretends to like the same things that George does so that she can get him to like her. Despite loving George herself, Jane does not reveal the truth and the courtship progresses rapidly. Soon the new couple announce that they intend to marry in only three weeks. The reporter who agrees to cover their wedding for the society page turns out to be Kevin, who writes wedding announcements under a pseudonym.

Review

Occasionally cute but consistently dim-witted, the romantic comedy 27 Dresses suffers the same number of generic clichés as it glides down the aisles toward a resolution that's as predictable as a wedding band's set list. Celebrate good times? Don't bet on it.

But don't blame the leads. Last year's breakout charmers Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up) and James Marsden (Hairspray, Enchanted) almost salvage this shabby, flabby date movie. He displays impressive comedic timing, and she shows off her deep reservoir of charm. If Knocked marked the arrival of a new rom-com starlet, Dresses at least proves Hollywood's relationship with Heigl is built to last.

While working the wedding beat for a fictional New York newspaper, Kevin (Marsden) crosses paths with perennial bridesmaid Jane (Heigl), who has stood beside 27 brides as she has waited patiently for Mr. Right to come around. Jane loves George (Ed Burns), her boss, but can't work up the courage to tell him. The three legs of a classic love triangle begin to take shape.

So far, so good. Here comes the bad. Jane's younger sister, Tess (Malin Akerman), blows into town. She is introduced to George by Jane at a company gathering (believable), and they immediately hit it off (possible). Days later, the two are madly in love (improbable, but I'll bite). Weeks later, they're engaged to be married (impossible). And Tess asks Jane to be her maid of honor (laughable).

Advertisements trumpet that 27 Dresses comes from the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada, which is accurate but only half the story. Aline Brosh McKenna did adapt Prada, but she had Lauren Weisberger's biting satire as a guide. When left to her own devices, McKenna has penned ignorable tripe like Laws of Attraction with Pierce Brosnan and Julianne Moore and Three to Tango with television castoffs Matthew Perry and Neve Campbell. But if you put that on the Dresses poster, no one would show.

The DVD includes three deleted scenes (including 'Jane hails a cab'), a handful of making-of featurettes, and a fun but very short documentary about 'The Running of the Brides,' an annual bridal gown sale held in one shop that attracts a stampede of brides-to-be from across the country looking for big deals.

Try the veal.

by Sean O'Connell, Filmcritic.com
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