Fox Home Entertainment
SRP $29.99

Director: Anne Fletcher
Stars: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Edward Burns, Melora Hardin, Brian Kerwin, Judy Greer

Believe it or not, prior to 27 Dresses, I had never seen Katherine Heigl. Oh I have heard the name and am aware that she had a successful film and is (or maybe was, I am not sure) on a popular television series, but this was my first time viewing her work. She is a Charming lady, with that something special.

Too bad I can’t say the say about 27 Dresses.

Before going any further, let me state something I strongly believe: Any type of movie can be made well. Action, legal thriller, sci-fi, fantasy, romantic comedy…all of these genres have seen truly classic films made.

So why is it that we are often subjected to cliché-filled scripts that feel like a half-assed effort?
I cam almost heard the writer saying, “What do you want? It is a romantic comedy, it does not have to be brilliant.”

Bullshit. Ask Richard Curtis if it is possible to write a smart RomCom.

If a movie is going to be made, at least attempt to make it something worthwhile.
27 Dresses does seem to work on in one area: It appears to have managed to squeeze every single romantic film cliché into it’s 87 minutes. I would have thought that impossible, but they have managed to combine all of them without being a Scary Movie type parody.

And we can’t just blame the writer, because the director and producers never bothered to suggest the much needed rewrites (Trust me, one rewrite would not have been enough).

Jane (Heigl) is a smart young lady that loves weddings. She loves the idea of the perfect wedding. She has also a bridesmaid 27 times. Each of these weddings also appear to have been organized by her. In her regular life, she is an assistant to the publisher of an outdoor magazine. She, in addition to being his right hand, is deeply in love with him. Naturally, he has no clue. Lovely woman, makes sure nothing disrupts the order of your world and you never notice her…right.

When the film starts, Jane is participating in wedding number 26 and 27. These weddings are on opposite sides of the town, so she spends a big part of the night to and fro, changing dresses in a taxi. Only one person actually notices this: Kevin Doyle (James Marsden), the writer that covers wedding for the paper. Interestingly enough (Ok, not really), Jane LOVES his writing. He manages to capture the magic of it all. Deep down, Kevin hates weddings and writing about them.

So once they start talking (she does not know who he is since he writes under a different name), they quickly disagree on damn near everything. She walks away with the intention of never seeing him again.

But, Kevin sees a great story in Jane. He sees the story that will get him off of weddings and onto features. As a result, he pursues her in a way that suggests he is smitten with her (this is not, at least initially, the case. So we now have two guys that have no interest in Ms. Hiegl. They could put some glasses on her, maybe put her hair in a bun or ponytail.

Of course, over time Jane and Kevin start to bond (between sessions of bickering) and…well, you can imagine where things go from here.

27 Dresses is impressive in one fashion: They manage to take two likeable, charming people and make a dull film with them. That takes some serious ineptitude, or maybe just cinematic indifference.

Jeremy Lynch

For more reviews from myself, and the rest of the Crimespree crew, check out the index of reviews.