Four Weddings and a Formula
posted on Wednesday, January 30, 2008 in Movie Reviews
One might get the feeling, while watching 27 Dresses, that you’ve seen this movie before. This film sticks ridiculously close to the well-established romantic-comedy formula, never offering up anything particularly new or exciting. To its credit, 27 Dresses wears that old frock pretty well, mostly due to the chemistry between the two lead actors, but overall, there’s just no getting over how worn this dress is. Jane is the ultimate bridesmaid. Growing up, she became obsessed with weddings, and now, she spends a lot of her time helping friends organize their big day. Her resolve gets tested, however, when she finds herself organizing the wedding of her sister to the man of her dreams. Meanwhile, she’s garnered the attention of a cynical young journalist, who becomes fascinated with Jane’s extreme and eternal bridesmaidship. Will Jane find true love and finally get her own wedding? The cynical young journalist may hold the key.
The story may seem familiar to some of you. We’ve actually seen this plot before. A take-charge, well-organized girl so caught up in planning weddings that she becomes unable to take the leap herself and have her own wedding? Wasn’t this The Wedding Planner? Wasn’t this Got 2 Believe? There just isn’t anything original or creative in this script, and if you’ve ever seen any romantic comedy in your life, then you know exactly how everything is going to turn out.
The filmmakers seem to have set out to hit every single romantic-comedy trope in existence. It’s less of a film that was written, and more a film that was designed. It’s a pastiche of old familiar feelings stuck into a nondescript story, specifically designed to capture a certain demographic. There’s just no artistry here, no creativity. A semi-decent writer could have written this film while sleeping through a screening of Sleepless in Seattle. Everything here has just been run through so many times that it’s all become a big cliché. There’s an argument made about sticking to what’s tried and true, and in fact, the film does do those clichés pretty well, but that kind of thinking just doesn’t lead to memorable cinema. Their adherence to the well-worn romantic-comedy clichés ultimately make the entire affair forgettable, ready to be overshadowed by the next big Hollywood romantic-comedy.
There is enjoyment to be derived from this film, mostly provided by the genuine chemistry between Katherine Heigl and James Marsden. Their characters are pretty flat overall, but even the most jaded of filmgoers will probably crack a smile for some of their interactions. Heigl has a relatable charm to her, and Marsden has an infectious energy, and together, they almost bring back memories of some of Hollywood’s greatest pairings. Almost. The rest of the cast fill out their character molds pretty well.
One cannot discount the fact that there is most definitely an audience for this film. And it’s fine. There are a good amount of people who will go into this film and fall into the lull of familiarity as the film goes from one trope to another, and they’ll laugh at the jokes and smile at all the kilig moments, because the film does do those things well. But a year from now, odds are that no one will even remember this film; that it will be lost among the myriad of other formulaic films that came before it, and the myriad sure to follow. Films that will pander instead of challenge, that were assembled rather than created. Maybe we should be asking for more than that.
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