Film Review: ’27 Dresses’ Conventional clichés confine and clutter

Most people of the male persuasion were expecting “27 Dresses” to be a flaccid attempt at a romantic comedy. Although the film is sopping with bad supporting roles and obvious plot twists, it does not entirely disappoint.

Novice at best, writer Aline Brosh McKenna (“The Devil Wears Prada”) struggles to keep the story’s predict-
ability to a minimum. In fact, the plot is easier to navigate through than the James River on an inner tube.

The story opens with a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed vixen, Jane (Katherine Heigl of “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Knocked Up”), gazing into the mirror at a wedding gown that must have been tailored for her. Surprise! She’s the same exact size as the friend whose wedding she’s planning.

Her closet, which is bursting open with bridesmaid’s dresses from all 27 weddings she has helped plan, epitomizes her life. Jane’s selfl ess servitude toward those she cares about soon results in her little sister, Tess (Malin Akerman of “The Comeback” and “Harold
and Kumar Go to White Castle”), stealing her
boss, George (Edward Burns of “Saving Private
Ryan”), the man Jane secretly loves.

Now left in the compromising position of
planning her sister and boss’ wedding, Jane
seeks solace in her best friend and co-worker,
Casey (Judy Greer of “Arrested Develop-
ment”), for sassy commentary, and her new
acquaintance on the wedding circuit,
dreamy-eyed, commitment section writer
Kevin (James Marsden of “X-Men”).

What follows is a tumbling parade of
antics that eventually results in Jane’s
lifetime of repressed behavior getting
the best of her. The slow release of raw
feminine energy is quite entertaining,
as well as the nicely toned cast – a treat for those with short attention spans.

The final 15 minutes of the movie are a frantic attempt to tie up as many loose ends as possible with a minimal amount of character development – about as bad as the
ending to an “American Pie” movie. Pick one.

Although pleasant to look at, Akerman really does nothing to further augment the solid acting of Marsden and Heigl. Her tantrums and oblivious selfi shness are poorly sold. Marsden and Heigl, on the other hand, develop their chemistry
nicely throughout.

McKenna and director
Anne Fletcher
(“Step Up”) do well in sticking
to the formula
of cheesy ro-
mantic comedy.
T heir delivery shows exactly why
people love to go
to these movies; for
the sturdy, captivating
message that no matter
how crappy one’s love
life is, it’s only a mat-
ter of time before true
love comes stumbling
into their life. Great idea,
guys.

Grade: D+

“27 Dresses” is rated PG-13
for language, some innuendo
and sexuality.