Director: Anne Fletcher
Starring: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden
Genre: Romantic Comedy
Length: 107 min
Release Date: 29 April, 2008
Movie rating: PG-13 for language, some innuendo and sexuality.
Ramble Geek rating: 3 stars
The Lowdown: In 27 Dresses, Jane (Katherine Heigl) has been a bridesmaid 27 times. Seriously. She is in love with her boss, but too scared to say anything to him. Just as she's about to tell him how she feels, he meets her little sister Tess (who is a bit of a skank, by the way). After something of a whirlwind romance, they announce they are going to get married and Tess asks Jane to plan the wedding. Being the type of person she is (wimpy), she agrees.
Meanwhile, Jane is being pursued in an almost stalkerish fashion by writer Kevin Doyle (James Marsden), who happens to work for a newspaper writing wedding commitments. When he finds out just how many times Jane has been a bridesmaid - and that she has kept every last dress - he concocts a plan to write a story about her to advance his career. Naturally, she finds out.
The Breakdown: 27 Dresses is basically your standard formula romantic comedy. It is full of the clichés that make up the genre: The main character (Heigl) who doesn't really seem to know what she wants until the end; the arrogant man (Marsden), the misplaced love interest, the slut (2 of them in this one!), at least 2 misunderstandings that nearly ruin all the main character's chances at any sort of relationship, and the inevitable happy resolution, all wrapped up and tied with a string of one liners.
The Word: Let's start with the things I liked about this movie. First of all, I'm a sucker for sarcasm, so lay it on. One shots and situational comedy are good also, and this movie has plenty of both. It has some interesting moments (like the goth wedding), and while the supporting characters are pretty much your standard issue static/flats, there are enough of them to give a good sense of variety.
I think my favorite part of the movie is the scene involving Jane and Kevin standing on a bar, completely hammered, belting out Benny and the Jets in a way that would make Elton John cry, if not kill himself outright.
Now, on to the bad. Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this movie is the lack of time references. It leaves you with no idea how much time is actually passing between events. Only twice through the whole thing does it make mention of how much time has gone by, and one of those is the obligatory "1 year later" at the very end. It's also very formula, and there isn't really a single part of the story you can't see coming a mile away (OK, maybe you wouldn't see Benny and the Jets coming, but what comes after that is certainly not hard to guess). Despite having its moments, there's nothing really stand-out about this film, and after watching it once you'll probably put it on the shelf and leave it there for a long time.
