| 27 DRESSES (2008) : A.Fletcher : 6/10 |
|
|
 One of the running gags in 27 Dresses revolves around the idea that bridal frocks aren't really such notoriously bad investments after all, as in many cases they can be shortened and worn again. Rather appropriate, that, for a picture which so breezily recycles the plot of another Hollywood romantic comedy from not so very long ago: Adam Shankman's flaccid Jennifer Lopez vehicle The Wedding Planner (2001), in which a thirtyish woman was so busy organising other people's nuptials that she neglected her own marital prospects. The similarity probably isn't coincidence, given that the director of 27 Dresses, ex-choreographer Anne Fletcher was an associate producer on The Wedding Planner: the casting of ever-reliable Judy Greer as the protagonist's snarky best pal in both pictures is perhaps an in-joke tipping of the wink.But while 27 Dresses isn't going to win any prizes for originality, it's encouraging that Fletcher - and writer Aline Brosh McKenna (red-hot after The Devil Wears Prada) - seem to have learned plenty from The Wedding Planner's many inadequacies. Though undeniably too long, their movie does just about enough to qualify as an above-average example of its genre: female audiences worldwide will enthusiastically respond to this unapologetic, Bridget Jones-ish 'chick-flick'; any dragged-along dates, boyfriends or husbands may well find that it's (albeit marginally) more enjoyable than endurable. Crucial to the picture's success is the presence of Katherine Heigl in the lead role: having come to general attention via Knocked Up and the small screen's Gray's Anatomy, she now graduates to her first Hollywood leading role with impressive aplomb. As the "tall, beautiful" Jane Nicholls - PA to Manhattan magazine-proprietor/outdoorsman-adventurer George (Edward Burns) - the strikingly pretty Heigl (who resembles Ashley Judd from certain angles) proves a game, skilled comedienne, managing to keep her character sympathetic despite actions which could be interpreted as solipsistic, myopic and juvenile. Jane has, it transpires, long been infatuated with her boss, a crush which continues (distaff shades of Dan In Real Life) even after he gets engaged to her airhead younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman, in shrill Anna Faris mode) and which she maintains despite the avid attentions of dishy ("ridiculously handsome"), available journalist Kevin (James Marsden). It's a classic case of a performer transcending their material: Heigl really deserves better than Brosh McKenna's screenplay, which relies too heavily on contrivances, coincidences and implausibilities - even by the genre's standards and traditions. Fletcher's direction isn't really any more inspired: she makes so-so use of New York settings, and displays an unfortunate fondness for Randy Edelman's intrusive, near-incessant score - the latter made even more of a problem because of what's often a slightly muddy sound-mix that rendering some dialogue barely audible. Brosh McKenna and Fletcher try to have their (three-tiered) cake and eat it, meanwhile, one moment attacking the bloated, money-driven phenomenon that nuptials have become, the next wallowing in their opulence, whimsy and "magic". The socially-conscious Kevin chafes at having to "spin romantic crap" in his columns (he's an upmarket daily newspaper's wedding reporter) and rails at what has become a "$70bn-a-year industry... a corporate revenue-stream" - but when push comes to shove he of course turns out to to have a handily mushy heart underneath his cynically hard exterior. Marsden (another Manhattan rom-com for the lad, only months after Enchanted) exudes sufficient charm to just about pull off the transformation, however: he and Heigl have that crucial chemistry which The Wedding Planner's Lopez and Matthew McConaughey so sorely lacked, and which helps keep 27 Dresses watchable all the way to its predictable, inevitable - but unexpectedly affecting - altar-side finale. Neil Young 19/20.Mar.08 -------------------------------------------------------------------- USA 111m (BBFC timing) director : Anne Fletcher (Step Up.) editor : Priscilla Nedd-Friendly (American Pie, Undercover Blues, Pretty Woman, etc) seen 19.Mar.08 Newcastle (Empire : press show) |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
