Perfection in the world of Romantic Comedy (27 Dresses (DVD))

Member Name: Ailran

Product:	27 Dresses (DVD)
Date:	01/07/09 (136 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: This is a close to perfection a rom-com can get

Disadvantages: None at all

27 Dresses is yet another in the never ending long line of romantic comedies that are seemingly produced by American movie studios every minute of the year. There seems to be an insatiable demand for these movies, which isn't a problem in my eyes at all as I love them and will pretty much watch every one that comes out!
Unlike some recent ones, Accidental Husband for example, 27 Dresses is one of the best examples of the genre, in fact probably the best since Music and Lyrics in my own opinion.

27 Dresses stars Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) as Jane. She is the PA to the director of an outdoor clothing company and is hopelessly in love with him. To fill out her life of unrequited love she seems to be permanently arranging and helping her friends with their weddings, in fact she is experiencing her 26th and 27th wedding as a bridesmaid at the start of the film (hence the title). This is when she comes to the attention of Kevin Doyle (James Marsden), a writer for the New York Journal who compiles the Commitments section of the style section.

When Jane's sister, Tess, a model returns to New York her world collapses. Tess meets her boss George (Edward Burns) and they fall for each other immediately.
To make matters worse Tess wants Jane to organise everything for her wedding, which is very soon announced. Tess is far too self absorbed to be able to do anything herself!
Meanwhile Kevin is 'harassing' Jane because he wants to do an article on her, the perpetual bridesmaid.

27 Dresses works so well not just because it has a great story but also because all the four main characters, plus Judy Greer as Jane's best friend, are just spot on. They are all so quintessentially clichéd Rom Com characters. George is the good looking single guy who doesn't see how much Jane loves him. Jane is the stereotypical chick flick girl, stunningly good looking but unconfident in herself and works too hard to make up for her lack of a relationship.
Then there is Kevin, the man who writes about marriage but hates everything that it has become. He is as cynical as you can be about the whole thing and wants to get away from writing about the whole institution.
Lastly of course there is the sister, also stunning but not a patch on the main character even if she doesn't realise this herself.

Katherine Heigl is a terrific comedy actress, first turning up, in my eyes anyway, in the very average Johnny Knoxville vehicle 'The Ringer' she then reappeared, smashing into the big time, in 'Knocked Up' In that she just blew me away with her performance and here she does it all over again. She is a sure fire star to be, without a doubt.
James Marsden on the other hand has never been a Romantic Comedy kind of actor. He appeared in Gossip, The X-Men and Superman Returns and from those films I would never have imagined him becoming a comedy actor. Then he amazed me in 'Hairspray' with his comedic ability and then in 'Enchanted' he surpassed himself, question is could he manage a more straight forward rom com role? I didn't think so but I was very wrong.
As Kevin Doyle his relationship/scenes with Jane are just a joy to watch. 'Benny and the Jets' will never be the same again!

Usually in most rom com films there are a couple of stand out scenes that make it good. 27 Dresses is different in that it has a whole bunch of them, from start to finish. It is one of those comedies that is just capable of making you smile all the time and laugh more than most modern comedies.
Yes it is fairly predictable, but what romantic comedy isn't? It is the journey that counts in these kind of films and the one that 27 Dresses takes us on is bright, breezy, colourful and just about everything that a great movie should be.

Summary: A Rom com all others are going to have to match