I watched this film last night after renting it from Lovefilm.com. A number of people I knew who had seen it had suggested that it was very funny and worth watching, so I thought I would get in on the act ans see what all the fuss was about.
27 Dresses is a romantic comedy which is directed by Anne Fletcher and written by Aline Brosh McKenna. Mckenna was also screenwriter for the Devil Wears Prada, which led me to expect an equally good film in 27 Dresses.
The film has a 12A rating and was released in January 2008. Running time is approximately 110 minutes.
***The Cast***
Katherine Heigl as 'constant bridesmaid' - Jane Nichols James Marsden as ' wedding journalist' - Malcolm Kevin Doyle Malin Akerman as ' Jane's sister' - Tess Nichols Edward Burns as 'Jane's boss' - George
***The plot***
The film centres around Jane Nichols, a woman who has been a bridesmaid an astonishing 27 times, yet never the bride herself. The film opens with a slightly amusing scene (albeit completely
unrealistic) whereby Jane has the misfortune of being a bridesmaid at two seperate weddings on the same night. In this scene Jane spends the night going back and forward in a taxi all evening between weddings, changing in and out of her seperate bridesmaids outfits in the back seat.
It is at one of these weddings that Jane falls and hits her head whilst trying to catch a boquet - and is brought around by wedding journalist, Kevin Doyle. Despite writing the wedding column, Kevin admits he is 'full of crap' and yearns for something more challenging to write about. And here we have the central plot of the movie - Kevin spots Jane changing in the taxi and decides to do a story on unsuspecting Jane about her bridesmaid obsession.
Other plot lines involve Jane's attractive yet overbearing, 'can do no wrong' sister Tess. Cast alongside Jane, Tess makes her look like a do-gooding angel. Unfortunately Tess strikes up a relationship with Jane's boss George, who Jane happens to have been in love with for years. Instead of protesting, Jane goes along with it all and ends up agreeing to be maid of honour when the two decide to get married.
What follows is a personal conflict for Jane, not helped by the persistent Kevin Doyle who also hapens to be writing a piece in the wedding column for Tess and George. Will Kevin's article on Jane ever end up in the newspaper? Will Jane ever get together with her boss after all? Will there be a new love relationship between Jane and journalist Kevin? Will poor Jane ever get to be the bride instead of bridesmaid? Well, I think we can safely guess the answer to ALL of these questions, without me saying anymore.
***My Opinion***
This is 100% an absolute chick flick. I tried to convince myself this was not true before I watched it, as I had heard rumours that it was 'not your average girlie flick' and that it had a strong comedy element to it.
I was wrong.
If you enjoy predictable, uneventful chick flicks - then you won't be disappointed. And to be fair - the film does have some amusing comedy aspects to it. For instance, I found it remotely funny when Jane was helping two of her brides to go to the toilet and was holding their dresses up in the air for them. That goes beyond dedication, it really does. However, there was very little throughout the film which was funny enough to make me laugh out loud. When I spend money on hiring a comedy film, I expect to be made to laugh. This film did not achieve this. And I had had half a bottle of wine too which normally makes me laugh at anything...
***Summary***
This is not a terrible film - and I can see why some people would watch it. However for me, I expect more from a comedy film. The plot is predictable and not hugely interesting. In addition, although the acting standard is decent, the characters themselves are rather dull and I didn't really care about what happened to them. At times I wanted to shake Jane and tell her to get a backbone.
A predictable and uninspiring, slightly amusing comedy, which I have forgotten about already.
This review is also posted under my name at dooyoo.com
Thanks for reading.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Director: Tony Dow - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: John Challis, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst, Tessa Peake-Jones, Gwyneth Strong
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
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 (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 ...
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 [DVD] [2008]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/79387500.jpg "27 Dresses [DVD] [2008]")
Jul 5th, 2009
very helpful by (100%):
