“27 Dresses” opened in movie theaters this past weekend to the delight of 16 year-olds everywhere. Surely that’s the audience this cliché-ridden, contrived exercise in futility is being marketed to, or at least it seemed to be at the film’s opening I attended.
TV’s Katherine Heigl stars as Jane, a 27-time bridesmaid (never the bride) who through a series of unbelievable and improbable coincidences finds Mr. Right by the film’s closing credits. Those same credits are by-the-way the most entertaining and original aspect of the entire film. It’s just the other 104 minutes that are extremely painful and laborious to watch.
“Enchanted’s” James Marsden is on hand here to play a more cynical Prince Charming this time around, whose smiles regardless of his often flat uninspired one-liners delighted the mostly teenaged female audience in attendance. Heigl and Marsden work hard to make us like them here, sometimes too hard, it’s just the contrivance of the material they are given that betrays their efforts.
Marsden’s character Kevin, a writer for the Commitments section of a major New York newspaper who stumbles upon Heigl’s character at a wedding during the film’s opening, is predictably cynical of marriage and the subject he covers. Heigl’s Jane, is the all-around girlfriend to so many who will not only plan your wedding but often show up as a bridesmaid if needed. So when Jane’s younger sister, Tess falls for Jane’s boss George (Edward Burns), it’s here that the romantic comedy of errors begins… or so they thought.
Of course Jane has always had a secret crush on her perfect boss George, and is alone in her secret pain at first but eventually Kevin catches on, and “of course” slowly falls for the lifelong bridesmaid, Jane. Ah, but not so fast, Jane is “of course” weary of Kevin and his cynicism towards marriage, so through a series of predictable film montages (made-up of flat sight-gags accompanied by popular pop-songs) the two slowly learn to like and maybe even love each other along the way.
Aline Brosh McKenna is most to blame here with her inability to write real-sounding dialogue. This is McKenna’s first offering since her adaptation of Lauren Weisberger’s “The Devil Wears Prada” made a more successful transition to the screen in 2006. Maybe screenplay adaptation is more her style. If I find my thoughts drifting during conversations between characters on screen in any movie I usually blame the writer. If I am bored by what I am seeing on screen I often hear Tommy Lee Jones’ character from “The Fugitive” yelling very loudly… “I don’t care!“ I heard that a lot here.
All the performers in “27 Dresses” try hard despite what they have been given, it’s only Malin Akerman’s Tess, who regardless of her physical beauty gives an overdone and at times amateurish performance that grows most weary throughout.
Choreographer/Actress-turned director Anne Fletcher does what she can with the bland material, but offers very little visually. I often found what was going on in the background more interesting than what was supposed to be holding my attention focused in front of me.
If fresh, edgy new comedy is what your looking for in films, spare yourself the $9.50 and try to catch a matinee of “Juno.” This year’s truly inspired new comedy.
