SNMR 6.21: "27 Dresses"

Tonight's SNMR feature is "27 Dresses (2008, PG-13, 111 minutes), starring Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Ackerman, Judy Greer and Edward Burns. The film was directed by Anne Fletcher.

PLOT SUMMARY: Jane (Heigl) is the boss' (Burns) assistant and right hand woman. She's also secretly in love with him. It's such a big secret that everyone knows, except the boss himself. Jane also loves weddings and has been a maid of honor at twenty-seven of them. She does everything for the brides to be and can't say no to any of them. She also loves the wedding columns from the Sunday paper written by Malcom Doyle (Marsden). When her sister Tess (Ackerman) comes to town for a visit it's all good until she falls for Jane's boss - and he falls for her, or thinks he does. It's Jane's worst nightmare that she's asked to be the maid of honor at her sister's wedding to the man she pines for. Meanwhile Jane meets Kevin at one of the weddings she's attending, but can't stand him because he's so cynical about weddings and the "billion dollar" wedding industry. Sure enough Kevin keeps showing up where Jane is and the sparks (and jabs) fly.

MY OPINION: The title of this movie raised my eyebrows as I wondered if the movie itself was going to be any good. I had never seen Katherine Heigl in anything and legitimately wondered how god an actress she is. (No, I don't watch Grey's Anatomy). Turns out, in this romantic comedy she's pretty good. I had never seen James Marsden in anything until the month that I first watched this movie - suddenly he's in everything! (I had also watched "Enchanted" and "Superman Returns" that same month; Marsden was in those movies, too.) Malin Ackerman, who I'd never seen in anything before this is great as the bridezilla sister. Edward Burns gives a steady deadpan performance, which nicely plays off of Heigl and Ackerman's characters.

What you have here is a smart, intelligent and funny romantic comedy. Sure the story is sappy and somewhat predictable- that's what romcoms are all about! The script is well written and had some good one-liners in it. Detroit native Anne Fletcher, in her second directorial effort, does a good job of not letting the story get bogged down.

The DVD extras were also enjoyable.

**** out of *****