27 Dresses (2008)

Rated PG-13 for language, some innuendo and sexuality.

107 Minutes

Directed By: Anne Fletcher

Written By: Aline Brosh McKenna

I feel like I just found out my favorite love song was written about a sandwich. -Jane

Synopsis

A thirty something woman has spent the better part of her youth supporting other women in their walks down the aisle as a bridesmaid.  After wearing 27 Dresses in 27 different weddings Jane begins to get attention from a local wedding reporter who finds her story more compelling than the weddings themselves.  Surrounded by a boss she’s in love with, a gorgeous sister she is in the shadow of, and a new friend who is not too shy to point out her shortcomings, Janes life is taking a turn she hadn’t expected.

Review

Apparently all you have to do these days to find true love is take your hair out of a ponytail and put some makeup on.  Voila!  No more bridesmaid!  You’ll finally be a bride.  This may not have been a direct message in 27 Dresses but it was one of the many visual supporting qualities that contradicted the con-deluded theme that this film presented on the surface.  Outwardly it’s presenting one truth to you while subsequently offering an entirely different ideal behind it.

The main piece of wisdom the story offers is an honest speculation about the motivations of people today getting married.  It really attacks the Wedding business for making everyone feel like they have to get married and spend a bajillion dollars to have a happy marriage.  Because of the socialized pressure to wed, people often marry for the wrong reasons, and then unfortunately poor sweet good people like Katherine Heigl’s character Jane suffer the demise of a limp ponytail and unrequited love.  While the movie circulates around this smart story motivator it either fails to make it’s point with a valid example or contradicts it’s self with the genuine desire of people to fall in love and get married for the right reasons.

Heigl’s sister Tess played by Malin Akerman has a genuine desire to fall in love and get married and she finds the first guy with money and chemistry that comes along and almost right away sets the date.  Unfortunately her white lies are revealed and become a deal breaker for said fiance.  Where the film fails miserably here is using petty examples to end the relationship and it also seems to forget that beneath the Bridezilla of Tess and George’s eager trust, is the inert desire for love, not necessarily marriage, which shifts the films theme once again.

The most insulting aspect of the film was some of the visual metaphors.  Katherine Heigl couldn’t just be a stunning, drop dead gorgeous woman who simply hadn’t found the love she wanted throughout the film.  They had to dress her down until she became “I am woman.  Hear me Roar!” Suddenly she dressed snazzy and did her hair and put sexy makeup on.  The message that sends to girls and women alike is totally opposite of what the story’s message seemed to be.  I expect more from professional film makers than that kind of insulting mockery.

Cast

• Katherine Heigl as Jane
• James Marsden as Kevin
• Malin Akerman as Tess
• Edward Burns as George
• Melora Hardin as Maureen
• Judy Greer as Casey

The characterizations are a monstrosity.  Other than George it’s truly difficult to latch on to a genuinely likable character.  Jane, played by Heigl, is a weak, sappy woman who has no strength to stand up to anyone.  When she finally does it’s so inappropriate it’s not even worth applause.  Kevin, the Wedding Man, is essentially a fake.  He hates Weddings and love and projects this image to Jane throughout the progression of the film, then his real identity is exposed, then he exposes her frailty in the newspaper, and then finally in the end he declares he’s a hopeless romantic too.   Tess, Jane’s sister, is a young beautiful vivacious woman who isn’t all together upstairs but is an incredibly selfish self centered girl and becomes even worse when she’s engaged.  Her pathetic attempt to be an empathetic character at the end is lost on a entire story of her only caring about herself.  Ed Burns as George, this happy go lucky, lovesick guy couldn’t be more genuinely kind or in love with Tess, and then less then ten hours after their break he’s already testing things out with another woman?  I know this is a comedy.  But please throw me a bone here.

Ratings And Suggestions

I just couldn’t stomach the garbage 27 Dresses was shoving down my throat.  It indeed had moments of funny or cuteness, but in general was a melodrama of unlikable character’s doIng unrealistic things in a non-reality.  If the film had been loyal to it’s original theme, the outcome could have been very different, even with the desperate character’s, but it continued to bounce across the globe with conflicting ideals about love, marriage, and commitment.  I turned my DVD off feeling glad I took out my limp ponytail and finally found love and marriage.  I will rate it one star out of four based on the actors performances.  While their character’s were terrible they pulled off charismatic enough performances that I managed to not throw anything at the TV.  But that’s where the compliments end.