There is new phenomenon in Hollywood - The Grey's Anatomy Effect. All of a sudden cast members from the rather fab US medical drama are appearing in movies at a cinema near you. Patrick Dempsey has appeared in several now, Jeffrey Dean Morgan was in The Accidental Husband and now Katherine Hiegl is in her second successful movie of the last year, following on from Knocked Up. Hiegl has seemingly decided that Kate Hudson, Reese Witherspoon at al need to watch their backs as she is planning on taking the Rom-Com queen crown.
Hiegl stars as super P.A. Jane who is secretly in love with boss George (Ed Burns); this is a secret only to him however, everyone else knows it. Because of her love of weddings and her organisational skills she has been a bridesmaid now 27 times and has a variety of tasteless dresses to prove it. But hey, she can always shorten them and wear them again, right? As we meet Jane she is bridesmaid at two weddings in different parts of New York and is zipping across town changing in the back of a cab. At one society wedding she meets marital cynic Kevin (James Marsden - familiar with the GA effect having starred with Dempsey in Enchanted last year). Unbeknownst to Jane, Kevin is a wedding journalist who writes her favourite column in a New York newspaper. Kevin thinks Jane would make a fantastic subject for his breakthrough article that would get him off the wedding pages and onto something grittier. He doesn't actually mention this to her though. Jane has other things on her mind anyway, her glam (and somewhat manipulative) sister is in town and seems rather taken with George. It looks like Jane has to be bridesmaid yet again, when she would much rather be the bride.
Heigl does a great job as Jane, as the capable, loyal friend who gets taken for granted. The role isn't particularly challenging, but she is relatable and has good comic timing which is all that is needed really. I didn't warm to Burns as her boss, he seemed a bit of an idiot and sometimes chemistry was lacking. Marsden did a good job as the cynical journalist managing to be both sincere and obsequious as the role dictated. The character of Jane's sister, Tess (Malin Ackerman) I found annoying, she was shallow, bland and not particularly good at being ditzy. For someone who is quite manipulative, she needed to be a bit smarter and I failed to see why Jane kept making excuses for her. Practically any scene with Jane's friend Casey (Judy Greer) was subsequently stolen by her. She was great as the bitchy but witty best friend
As romantic comedies go, 27 Dresses does try and liven up the formula by making you wonder which guy she will end up with, if any. Like all decent rom-coms you, of course, also have to have a well edited musical montage where she dresses up in all the outfits. Plus our heroine is also expected to embarrass herself for our amusement on several occasions before a disaster of some sort strikes, and she has to change her opinions on something. Whilst some rom-coms follow this formula and fall flat, 27 Dresses pulls it off somehow. Quite how is something I can't put my finger on - possibly some quality performances, a little bit of extra character depth than normal and the fact that it is blissfully unashamed of what it is. Whatever the exact components of this melting pot are, it makes it worth a watch to all fans of the rom-com genre and good girlie movies. Don't kid yourself that this is anything other than a rom-com, it isn't trying to be clever it is just trying to be a good romantic comedy and it achieves it very well.
I saw this film at the cinema -so this is a Film Only review.
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Katherine Heigl is delightful as Jane, a self-effacing Gal Friday so addicted to ... more
organizing weddings in her off time, that27 Dressesopens with her character juggling two nuptials on the same night. A perpetual bridesmaid, Janes hobby is discovered by a...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Katherine Heigl is delightful as Jane, a self-effacing Gal Friday so addicted to ... more
organizing weddings in her off time, that27 Dressesopens with her character juggling two nuptials on the same night. A perpetual bridesmaid, Janes hobby is discovered by a...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
27 Dresses centres around Jane (Ketherine Heigl) an idealistic romantic and completely ... more
selfless woman. Jane has always been good at taking care of others but not so much in looking after herself. Her entire life has been about making people happy - ...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up, TV?s Grey?s Anatomy) finds the perfect fit in this sexy ... more
stylish film from the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada. Sassy, smart, single Jane (Heigl) is the perfect friend- but looking after other people's perfect moments ...
![27 Dresses [DVD] [2008]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/79387500.jpg "27 Dresses [DVD] [2008]")
May 28th, 2008
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