27 Dresses (2008)

A Disappointing Continuation

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

"27 dresses" is a movie about a girl named Jane who loves to organize weddings for her friends. The last wedding that she takes on is her sister's Tess with Jane's boss, Gorge, with whom Jane is secretly in love with. Meanwhile, a cynical writer, Kevin, who is interested in Jane, covers Tess's wedding for the paper. The story is very entertaining and humorous, from the clever lines to the crazy scenes, especially the one in the bar. The soundtrack is great too. The journey that Jane takes until she finally takes the ranges of her life is filled with many ups and downs. Of course the ending is still predictable, but fortunately the film is of good quality and very interesting. The performances are good too. The whole atmosphere is a little "bridal", rosy and cheerful, but doesn't gets tiring. All in all, a nice movie that entertains without getting boring.

Jane (Katherine Heigl) is always the bridesmaid, never the bride. She's attracted to her boss George (Edward Burns), but when her little sister Tess (Malin Akerman) comes to town, he falls for the younger sister. Kevin (James Marsden) is the cynical writer who's trying to do more than the fantasy wedding story. When he find Jane's filofax in a cab, he decides there might be an interesting story about Jane.Literally there was only one laugh in this for me. Just one. That's when Judy Greer slaps Katherine Heigl. Is there something of a wish fulfillment? I don't know. Let's say Heigl in this movie is pushing all the wrong buttons for me.I'm not trying to say that Heigl is a bad actress. The whole idea that these two beautiful people are both so cynical is not an appealing story. Bennie and the Jets singalong was a smile-worthy moment. Somebody should steal that and put it in a better movie.

At age eight in 1986, Jane discovers she loves weddings as she helps a bride avert disaster. I didn't hear what the bride had to apologize for saying, but it was no problem for Jane; she has cable.In the present day, Jane works in New York City for George, who hikes and climbs mountains and runs a business which sells products for the environmentally conscious. Jane took the job right out of college but is still basically a secretary and wishes she could advance. Furthermore, she is falling for George.But enough about work. Jane has a wedding to go to! Two, in fact. It's hilarious watching her dash back and forth, having to pay the cab driver hundreds to stay with her, but getting a break when he disobeyed and turned around as she was changing. What a shame that well-choreographed dance lasted about a second.Part of her obsession with weddings is her enjoyment of the popular wedding column in the New York Journal. She doesn't know it because the man uses a pseudonym, but this cynical jerk named Kevin attending one of her weddings is actually that columnist. Kevin helps Jane when she has an accident, and while it's not yet obvious they could fall for each other, she is intrigued that this man thinks weddings are too extravagant considering so many marriages fail.Kevin ends up with Jane's calendar. Rather than return it, he has an opportunity to move ahead at his newspaper. He hates writing about weddings, but it's all they will let him do, mainly because he's so good at it. The calendar will let him write about Jane and her obsession with weddings. Kevin's editor Maureen isn't enthusiastic, but she'll give him a chance.And Kevin may be able to get all the information he needs. Jane's hot sister Tess has been working in fashion and is back in town. Jane helped her father Hal raise Tess after their mother died when the girls were young. This means Jane thinks Tess needs to be taken care of, and in a sense, she does. Tess meets George and they hit it off. Mainly because Tess pretends to be a vegetarian and outdoor enthusiast who likes dogs. She actually hates dogs and loves to eat meat, but somehow keeps her gorgeous figure. Eventually, George proposes, and Kevin may have yet another wedding to write about.So Kevin finds his way into Jane's apartment as he does background work on Tess and her friends and family. While there he discovers Jane has a closet full of all the dresses she ever wore as a bridesmaid. So full the doors won't close. How many dresses? What is the title of the movie, after all? And in a really enjoyable sequence, we get to see Jane model many of the dresses and even see flashbacks of varying lengths showing the wedding where each dress was worn.So what's going to happen? Will George and Tess go through with their wedding? Will George find out the truth? Will George and Jane end up together instead? or will Jane and Kevin be together at the end? Katherine Heigl is very good here. She doesn't have a cute personality, or even one that is always appealing, and yet she is enjoyable to watch. She has those beautiful eyes and that nice smile, and a number of cute hairstyles. But it's her intelligence and sense of humor that really makes her character work. There is even occasional physical comedy.I didn't like it, but some people might consider the scene with Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets" a highlight of the movie. As for the other music, it wasn't as bad overall as what I heard in "The Ugly Truth". It just wasn't as good as what I like.The dresses were beautiful. I mean for bridesmaid's dresses.James Marsden is appealing enough as Kevin.I liked Brian Kerwin as the girls' father, who is an ordinary proprietor of a hardware store and just a regular guy despite the glamorous life his girls have, or at least aspire to.I did not like Jane's best friend Casey. On the other hand, it was nice to see The Bitch in Apartment 23 in a brief but pleasant role as Jane's receptionist.It's interesting that I had to pause to watch a TV show when watching this movie--I taped rather than rearrange my schedule--and the movie's entire tone changed after I came back to it. But the movie didn't get off track. It merely did everything that it needed to. I think most people will be pleased with the outcome. And wait until you see what happens to all those dresses.It was a fun movie overall.

27 Dresses is you basic wedding romantic comedy with the eternal bridesmaid who while incredibly beautiful can't find her man because she's waiting and enthralled by her prince charming. That's the boring part that Hollywood loves to throw at us.The interesting part is that not one but two third parties come to mess things up. Then it gets interesting. The middle part is hilarious, which give the movie most of its appeal. Near the end, it gets a bit dramatic, it gets more points there. However, it ends well, which is not such a bad thing, but I would have ripped the last scene out to make it much better. Hollywood likes to tie all the loose ends too much for its artistic good.That being said, Katherine Heigl and James Marsden are excellent, very funny, and easy to relate to. She story, even if it doesn't bring anything new, is interesting, and the plot developments are not too bad, to the exception of the "unforgivable lie" which rears its ugly head again. How tiresome.You want a nice romantic comedy with enjoyable characters, it's for you.