By Hilary Johnson
A Rated PG13 107 minutes
“I feel like I just found out that my favorite love song was written about a sandwich,” said a distressed, disillusioned Jane, played by Katherine Heigl in the new romantic comedy 27 Dresses.
For a sappy chick flick, this movie packs some of the most hysterical silver screen moments I have seen in a long long time. Some of them match the funny bone aptitude of such notable comedies as Borat and Knocked Up (another Heigl vehicle), but it comes as a shocking, pleasant surprise.
One of the best things about Katherine Heigl is that she really nails the whole woe-is-me romantic comedy heroine, but she is downright one of the funniest actresses around. You just don’t ever expect it. She isn’t the kind of actress that comes to mind when you think of female comedians. Her character on Grey’s Anatomy is, once again, a lovelorn, sweet and yet incredibly strong woman. It’s a role that will hopefully not become typecast, but she surely does it well.
In 27 Dresses she is convincing with her mope-y eyes and her belief that the true sanctity of love is tangible. And she’s gorgeous, which doesn’t really hurt things.
But what really wins this new movie star some credit is that underneath all that Julia Roberts camouflage is a genuine comedian. And it shows. She truly shines in this witty, somewhat satirical film about the absurdities of weddings and how much importance has been placed on them over the past years.
Her character even tries on all 27 of the bridesmaid’s dresses, giving the film its name. And, in the most hilarious of ways, every single one is hideous. But as they flashback to the loving moments they were adorned for, they are as convincing and valid as the kind of dress some delusional bride might make her friends wear.
The film starts with Jane participating in two weddings in one night, darting here and there in between the receptions in an undetectable act of selfless heroism. It gives the illusion of the bridesmaid as some kind of super hero in a wedding, which is portrayed as a larger-than-life moment. Yet it is a moment that seems to have lost the significance of the original meaning: the joining of two people in love. That simple idea, with such bold implications about the state of marriage and weddings in our culture, is the backbone of this film. It is brought out by Heigl’s co-star and antagonist, the hunky James Marsden, who plays Kevin, a wedding journalist for the New York Journal, but whose cynical views on the sanctity of weddings counters Heigl’s idealistic obsession with the overblown events.
Their chemistry is somehow both subtle and overwhelming all at once, making this film not only romantic and emotional, but sarcastically funny and totally believable.
It is safe to say that this film will be a huge box office hit, while also catapulting the careers of both Heigl and Marsden into the next tier of silver screen success, a feat much deserved. 27 Dresses contains all the right ingredients. And even in the moments that are on the brink of being too sugary sweet to bear, they throw in another side-splitting moment that brings it down from the heart and into the stomach, which is suddenly, once again, doubled over in laughter.
If you are looking for a film that is light, but still thought provoking then this movie is for you. If you’re looking to make fun of marriage, then here’s your chance. If you’re looking to get ideas for an upcoming wedding, here are few what NOT to dos (and a few rather genuinely great ones). And if you’re looking for a good date movie, then this movie is definitely the pick of the crop. The guys will probably get a good laugh, while the girls will get the sappy love stories they love so much. Just maybe not a first date, as it is about weddings. That could just be awkward.
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