It’s cute. It’s fun. But it’s harmless.
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I´m not quite sure I´m the best person to review the Anne Fletcher comedy "27 Dresses." This is a motion picture that definitely falls in the social genre typically called a ´Chick Flick.´ Myself, I am a red blooded American male who loves a little violence, horror or loud explosions. "Waterworld" is more in line with what I call solid entertainment and I think "Pearl Harbor" could have been decent if anything remotely involved with the romantic subplots where neutered from the film. However, when you get down to brass tacks, I am a fan of cinema and while I prefer a little blood splatter over running mascara, I can appreciate a little comedy like "27 Dresses" that is intended to be light heartfelt fare. Sure, this is the type of film that I would never call up my friends and ask them to go see, but in the comfort of my own home or alongside a lovely young lady, "27 Dresses" isn´t a bad way to pass an evening.
Written by Aline Brosh McKenna, "27 Dresses" is about a gorgeous young woman, Jane Nichols (Katherine Heigl) who has spent much of her adult life being madly in love with her boss George (Edward Burns). Jane is unable to find any romantic happiness for herself, but she has managed to be a bridesmaid for twenty seven other women´s marriages. Her best friend Casey (Judy Greer) desperately wants Jane to grow a spine and tell George how she feels, but the opportunity is lost when Jane´s younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman) comes to town and quickly gains the affections of George. George is not the only passion in Jane´s life. She absolutely loves reading the marriage columns of a writer named Malcolm Doyle. Through a twist of fate, Jane meets Malcolm, whose real name is Kevin (James Marsden). However, she is less than impressed with Kevin as he tries to woo her and gain her affections.
I won´t go any further into the plot and ruin the story for those that are looking forward to sitting down and watching "27 Dresses." As a teaser I´ll only tell you that Jane finally gets to engage in a steamy and romantic kiss with George, but she finds herself perhaps having feelings for Kevin. Everybody in the film has a happy ending and "27 Dresses" is definitely a feel-good romantic comedy that doesn´t leave any loose ends untied and allows everybody to find the love they have all been seeking from the time the opening credits began. The film is pretty light hearted and quite predictable. This has always been one of my main gripes about romantic comedies and while "27 Dresses" is guilty of this flaw, I found the ending to be original enough that I wasn´t too dissuaded by the predictable turn of events that closed out the film. The viewer should and will know what happens before it does, but this is a movie where it is fun getting to the end.
Much of the allure of "27 Dresses" falls upon the lovely shoulders of Katherine Heigl. She was very good in one of last year´s best comedies, "Knocked Up" and her star is rising. The knockout blonde has a wonderful sense of humor and is very comfortable with physical and dialogue-based comedy. She has the looks and the personality to become a leading lady and I can´t see the twenty-nine year old actress spending too much more time as a resident on "Grey´s Anatomy." While it can be said that a number of actresses could have taken the role of Jane and done quite well with it, I personally cannot imagine anybody else in the part after watching "27 Dresses." Heigl easily steps into each of the twenty seven bridesmaid dresses and brings beauty, intelligence and humor to the role.
The rest of the cast of "27 Dresses" are quite affable as well. Edward Burns has been flying under the radar for over a decade and found less success than other men of the 29th Infantry from "Saving Private Ryan." Burns is very nicely cast as George. Moviegoers may remember the lovely Swede Malin Akerman from her spicier role in the comedy "The Heartbreak Kid." She tones down the sexuality and the gross-out humor from that Farrelly Brothers comedy for a far better performance in "27 Dresses." I´m not sure how George could ever pick Tess over Jane, but Akerman gives a performance that almost makes George´s decision seems sound. James Marsden is best known as Cyclops in the three "X-Men" films and I admittedly did not like him in those films, but I found Marsden to show a little funny bone and he handled himself nicely as a lead in a romantic comedy.
This is one of those films where I endanger my Man Card by outright recommending "27 Dresses." However, I found this to be a fun little romantic comedy that would be a wonderful selection for the female audience and is a film that isn´t too hard to sit through if you are of the male sex and your significant other wants you to watch the film with her. It gets a little silly at times and you can debate the believability of Jane´s ability to attend two weddings simultaneously as a bridesmaid, but I can tell you that "27 Dresses" is far easier to sit through Aline Brosh McKenna´s previous film, "The Devil Wears Prada." The film moves along nicely, the actors are all sound in their performances and Katherine Heigl is a star in the making. "27 Dresses" is most certainly a Chick Flick, but it is one of the better ones I have seen in the past two years.
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