An over-rated disappointment (27 Dresses (DVD))

Member Name: louanna8

Product:	27 Dresses (DVD)
Date:	04/06/09 (29 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: No thinking required

Disadvantages: Predictable and boring

27 Dresses is a romantic comedy that seems to be based on the saying "Always the bridesmaid and never the bride." Katherine Heigl stars as Jane Nichols, a woman who has been a bridesmaid an unbelievable 27 times but has yet to have her own big day. She meets Kevin Doyle (James Marsden) at one of these weddings and is immediately in conflict with him over his cynical views on marriage. Jane is also faced with the problem of being in love with her boss, George (Edward Burns) but not daring to tell him how she feels. This is made worse when her younger sister, Tess (Malin Akerman) arrives and soon makes a beeline for George. The plot is essentially the question will Jane get the man of her dreams or will she just be the bridesmaid again?

This is a typical rom-com whose idea of a plot is a love triangle which is very simple. There is no substance to the film and it is very difficult to care about any of the characters. It seems as if the film makers just wanted us to like all of the characters. For a film, particularly a romantic one, to work you need to have strong feelings, whether positive or negative, for the lead and supporting characters. There is none of that here. It is all very bland and leaves much to be desired. The storyline itself isn't such a bad idea and with better direction and some changes in the characters could have been a decent film. Despite it being just over 1 hour 45 mins in length it took me three sittings to watch it all as I found it so difficult to get into. There is nothing that grabs your attention or makes you want to keep watching.

The actors themselves are not bad (hence it getting 2 stars rather than 1) given what they have to work with.
Katherine Heigl does her best to portray a woman who always puts others first and as an actress is clearly not afraid to poke fun at herself which is always good to see.
James Marsden also pulls off the quite cheeky, yet cynical and seemingly unsuitable guy quite well. However, its a part common to nearly all rom-coms and so he didn't really show us anything new.
Edward Burns' character is one I really struggled with as he has absolutely no flaws. He is totally perfect and handles every situation flawlessly. I found this impossible to believe and couldn't respond at all to this character.
Malin Akerman does a good job as well and manages to give us a spoilt younger sister who you don't immediately hate for being so selfish. She doesn't fall into the trap of being a little,giggly dumb girl which many actresses tend to do to get a laugh. In a better film she would be someone I'd enjoy watching.

I wouldn't recommend this film to anyone really but it's probably best suited for a time when a rubbish chick-flick is just what you need. It will occasionally make you laugh and doesn't require any thinking at all.

You can buy it new on amazon now for £4.98 but in my opinion you'd be better saving your money.

Summary: A let down