Tuesday, January 22, 2008

27 DRESSES

27 DRESSES
Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Edward Burns, Judy Greer

Cinema 4, Shang Cineplex

"Always a bridesmaid, never a bride!"



Light rom com (romantic comedy) with a good cast, a predictable plot but oh so amusingly enjoyable to watch. Especially for a bride to be like myself. Not that my wedding will be as elaborate as the ones portrayed in the film but it was a delight to watch.

Jane (Katherine Heigl) as the title implies has worn 27 dresses as a bridesmaid. The woman is adept at being the ever reliable bridesmaid who does everything! She goes to the fitting of the bridal gown because she is the same size as the bride. She can order a wedding cake in just 3 weeks flat. She even multitasks by attending two weddings simultaneously! I'm surprised she didn't just get a job as a wedding planner.

But Jane has her own job as the personal assistant of some Richard Branson type executive. You know the sort of guy who can balance his thriving career with his philantrophic duties like sponsoring young kids at baseball camp. George (Edward Burns) aside from being Jane's boss is also the guy whom Jane is secretly in love with. To make things worse, Jane's younger and more attractive sister, Tess (Malin Akerman) suddenly breezes into town and sweeps George off his feet. He is so smitten, he immediately proposes to Tess. Thus Jane must now help plan the wedding of her own sister to the man she has been pining for since time immemorial.

As predictable love stories go, they introduce a potential love interest for our main character. He comes in the person of Kevin (James Marsden). A reporter who writes about weddings of the week in the commitments section of the New York Journal. Yet he himself has a rather cynical and sarcastic view about weddings. Longing for the day when he graduates from the commitments section to longer feature articles for the newspaper.

Does Jane get to wear her 28th dress as a bridesmaid to her sister's wedding? Or does she end up finally becoming a bride? We all probably can guess or know for sure the answer to the latter. Happy endings do abound in light romantic comedies, after all. It is up to the story line and I'd say the cast to keep us sustained until the very (happy) end.

The formula works due to the presence of Katherine Heigl who in all her towering frame glory still looks radiant as a bridesmaid even when she gets to wear the most hideous looking gowns ever made for bridesmaids. Her love hate relationship with James Marsden is convincing because of their chemistry and correct comedic timing. Although he seems to be losing his boyish charm which can't be a good thing especially if he stars as a romantic lead in rom coms. Malin Akerman who I have never heard of before makes a believable dumb blond spoiled brat younger sister because of her blond, well scrubbed appearance. A bit hard to believe that a somewhat heavier looking Edward Burns as George is a gung ho entrepreneur. At least he doesn't whine at all in this movie as he has a tendency to do in his other roles. But whether he is plausible or not in this movie, I still love the guy!

The film is cohesively edited, with some funny dialogue and authentic wedding preparation scenarios. Although expectantly predictable, it has its required conflict moments where the lead character must hurdle some challenges before being triumphant. It also tackles sibling rivalry, betrayal of trust issues, unrequited love and finally the discovery of one's true self.

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