27 Dresses is cinema for the simple-minded. Everything is spelled out for the audience in capital block letters.
27 Dresses (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:142
Fresh:57
Rotten:85
Average Rating:5/10
Consensus: The filmmakers perfectly follow the well-worn romantic comedy formula, rendering 27 Dresses clichéd and mostly forgettable.
Australian Rating: PG [See Full Rating] Mild sexual references and coarse language
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Comedies
Australian Theatrical Release:
Jan 10, 2008 Wide
US Box Office: $76,624,274
Synopsis: KNOCKED UP's Katherine Heigl stars in this romantic comedy about a selfless young woman who is trapped in the role of perennial bridesmaid. Set in New York City, the film opens with Jane (Heigl)... KNOCKED UP's Katherine Heigl stars in this romantic comedy about a selfless young woman who is trapped in the role of perennial bridesmaid. Set in New York City, the film opens with Jane (Heigl) racing by cab to appear in two friends' weddings in the same night. She is the maid of honor for both fetes, and she rushes back and forth in time to shimmy to both electric slides. She meets Malcolm (James Marsden), a cynical young man who, unbeknownst to her, writes for a newspaper's wedding column. Malcolm is intrigued by the sheer number of times Jane has played bridesmaid, and he secretly decides to write a story about her. To further complicate Jane's life, her younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman) has just come to town and ensnared Jane's longtime crush, George (Edward Burns). When George and Tess become engaged, Jane faces the humiliating prospect of playing bridesmaid in the wedding of her sister and the man she loves. Meanwhile, Malcolm continues hounding Jane, and Jane's life and closet soon explode in a taffeta-tangled mess that forces her to make some big changes. Heigl is a pleasure to watch, as she has the kind of crowd-pleasing, no-nonsense presence that could ground any film, so 27 DRESSES greatly benefits from her comedic skill and charm. While the film features all of the hallmarks of chick flick fare (wacky best friend, dress-up sequence, obnoxious but strangely attractive love interest) the story often veers into territory that may leave some feeling it stretches even the romantic comedy standards for suspension of disbelief. Heigl deserves comparisons to Julia Roberts for her sheer likability, and like PRETTY WOMAN, women will likely watch 27 DRESSES as a pleasant diversion--aware of the fantasy, but still delighted by the attractive lady in the different outfits. [More]
Starring: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Edward Burns
Starring: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Edward Burns, Melora Hardin, Judy Greer
Director: Anne Fletcher
Director: Anne Fletcher
Screenwriter: Aline Brosh McKenna
Producer: Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Jonathan Glickman
Composer: Randy Edelman
Studio: Fox 2000 Pictures
Reviews for 27 Dresses
I found myself growing so bored and restless that I began hoping in vain that the monster from "Cloverfield" would suddenly invade this New York-set story and perk things up
... as frilly and fluttery as the title bridesmaid's attire, as fluffy and sweet as the buttercream icing atop a towering wedding cake. But a nimble cast and insouciant spirit make it more enjoyable than its by-the-numbers plot indicates.
The biggest disappointment of 27 Dresses is that it inhabits a Harlequin romance New York City, one remarkably short on homosexuals and divorce.
Certainly Heigl fares better in less formulaic fare, such as Judd Apatow's irreverent Knocked Up, but she does raise the level of this chick flick from bland to mildly entertaining.
Light, formulaic and soft around the middle, choreographer-turned-director Anne Fletcher and Aline Brosh McKenna's 'always a bridesmaid... ' tale doesn't miss a pop-psych or pop-culture cliché en route to its fairy-tale ending.
Anyone who has the slightest doubt about where this movie is heading probably leads a full and rich life that doesn't include watching romantic comedies like My Best Friend's Wedding, which covered this same ground with a lot more verve and humour.
27 Dresses hits the stations of the romantic comedy cross with precision and verve.
Well, if you can figure out how this story ends, you've probably got better things to do than watch 27 Dresses.
All the plot elements that we're encouraged to care about in 27 Dresses resolve in a dud, and the only thing that feels good about the feel-good finish is that it means the movie's over.
The film 27 Dresses only seems like a lobotomy. In fact, this is public surgery to install a new vacuum tube for airheads into the generic chick flick, model 2008.
A flick that's the equivalent of a bridesmaid dress: colorful, fluffy, and ultimately stored away, forgotten.
I much preferred the updated battle-of-the-sexes Judd Apatow gives us in Knocked Up to this soap-ish spectacle of cat-fighting, undermining, backstabbing, and public humiliation.
It's not one for the ages, but this comedy about the 'perpetual bridesmaid' suggests a romantic marriage between star and audience that could last and last.
27 Dresses is stunningly dull. And Heigl, freed from the challenges of a Judd Apatow script, does little to distinguish herself from dozens of other actresses forgotten at the cineplex.
27 Dresses makes the point that modern American weddings are all pretty much alike. The same could be said about modern American romantic comedies.
Anyone who has seen a chick flick knows what is going to happen next, and next, and next...
Anyone watching this appealing actress march toward the inevitable will wonder why she's settling for so much less than she deserves.
The romantic comedy 27 Dresses provides [Heigl] with a chance to flex her comedic muscles, and her whip-smart delivery and timing are an indication that we may at last have a worthy heroine for the otherwise shaky future of romcom.
27 Dresses was obviously written by the Chick Flick Plot Generator 2000. Sure, it has a credited 'human' screenwriter, Aline Brosh McKenna, but how do we know she’s not a robot?
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