27 Yeses: A review of 27 Dresses.

The second film in my Friday double bill was romantic comedy 27 Dresses. My wife really wanted to see this film and I was not averse to seeing it. I will watch anything; although there have been films that at times I would not see with my wife and I have gotten into trouble for such resistance. She has sat through more than a few films that she did not want to see, but I insisted on, so...there it is.

Since, Knocked Up, I have been a fan of Katherine Heigl cause why not, not only is she hot but she is a capable young actress, who is a decent actress in a sea of mainstream Hollywood mediocrity (teen stars such as Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes and stars such as Cameron Diaz and Jessica Alba and more but I do not have time to name them). James Marsden, I have liked as an actor since teen horror/thriller flick Disturbing Behaviour (Katie Holmes before that Egomaniac Tom Cruise). I saw him in the X-Men flicks and in the more recent Superman Returns; he has also given a good performance in the film Gossip, which had a lot of potential but lacked the will to act on that potential. If you disagree on that one, just think of the title; it is called Gossip, just think about it.

The film is a cute little romantic comedy that is not totally predictable; it has a few unexpected or unconventional twists. It has a little more depth than some of the romantic comedies, possibly because Katherine Heigl's character lost her mother as a young child and helped raise her slightly younger sister, which leads to a bit of repressed anger that predictably comes out at the rehearsal dinner; you see it coming, trust me. James Marsden, plays a New York Journal (is that a real paper) commitments/weddings reporter, who (you guested it) covers the big weddings that take place in New York. He begins to do a piece on Katherine Heigl's character, who has been a bridesmaid 27 times. Again, you guested it; the pieces is basically 'always a bridesmaid never a bride'. He wants to do this piece because he is sick and tired of reporting on weddings because...of a bad experience; at first he just seems cynical about the commericalization of weddings, but there are of course much more than this. I know because I am married and I believe that your wedding is what you make it. It is not just a business deal or a commercialized occasion like Christmas, Halloween etc. It is the joining of two people who love each other and want to grow old and raise children together and share life experience together. For my wife and I that it watching films together for the first time, sleeping in on weekends together, having morning coffee, travel to places together and telling each other that we love each other, which we do to a sickening degree, but we mean it every time, perhaps more every time.
Sorry about the tangent there, but I mean it. I hate it when people knock marriage. James Marsden's character does do this but he is covering up old wounds. This I believe makes his character less 2 dimensional and a little more three dimensional, not that he every gets to that point (Mark Ruffalo is closer to getting there with his performance in Just Like Heaven, which is actually more of his story than of Reese Witherspoon's character), but it adds more to his character.

Basically, the movie is about being afraid to live your own life and feeling like you have to be there for everyone else. Katherine Heigl has been there for everyone and eventually people are there for her by the end of the movie; surprise. But it is also about not letting a bad experience prevent you from going for the things that you once wanted. 27 Dresses is a cute little romantic comedy that the average man should be able to sit through; it is not too chicky and not annoy and features at least a few jokes that a man can laugh at. If you believe yourself to be a bit more tolerable of romantic comedies than the average man, then you will probably laugh more.

I hope that you have enjoy this review. I am sorry if it is a little vague, but I do not want to give too much away if you want to see this film.

Your friend,

Fanboy Dave