That Heigl's desperate flailing manages to make a movie this trite mildly entertaining speaks to her talent. Now maybe she can bury the hatchet with Apatow and they can make another good romantic comedy.
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
The clichés, like the dresses, sashay in and out of this predictable if nicely fluffy chick-flick composite, which manages to crank out a few decent laughs when it isn't wasting time on a pair of deadly supporting characters.
Katherine Heigl is a movie star. Even in a fluffy romantic comedy like 27 Dresses, she lights up the screen.
Sorry, Sandra. Too bad, Meg. The mantle of movie cute queen has just been passed to Katherine Heigl, starring as the romantically challenged New Yorker of 27 Dresses.
Calling 27 Dresses predictable is putting it mildly. From the opening scene, it's painfully obvious exactly where the film is going and how everything is going to turn out.
The romantic comedy 27 Dresses will work best for people who have never seen a romantic comedy. If you have, you might find it amusing to tally up the steals -- I mean, homages.
My favorite performer in the movie, Judy Greer, is a deadpan killah as Jane's co-worker. She and Heigl deserve fresher stuff.
27 Dresses is one heck of a happy date movie. Smiling faces are guaranteed on all seen exiting when the credits finally do roll here.
Eventually the contrivances win out, but the cast keeps it all watchable.
There's a decent movie in here somewhere. But the director and screenwriter have made a ditsy single-chick movie with the alluring geometry of a screwball comedy.
Predictable but utterly engaging, 27 Dresses will likely be remembered as the film that made Katherine Heigl an A-list star.
I have seen the future, and it looks like TBS. Maybe TNT. I predict a happy union between 27 Dresses and cable TV, forever rerunning with commercial breaks tailor-made for laundry-loading and sandwich-making.
With a number of other stars in the lead role, 27 Dresses would have been unbearable. It's a testament to Heigl's ability that's only not-so-good.
[H]erewith the latest example of whalebone-corseted conformity masquerading as a postfeminist statement on modern independent womanhood...
No self-respecting screenwriter would put a Hugh Grant character through what Heigl's endures here. I don't blame McKenna: I blame a studio system that figures if it worked for Julia Roberts, it will work for Heigl.
Familiarity may be the central attraction of both weddings and romantic comedies, but the creators of 27 Dresses have taken a good thing too far.
You won't miss much if you choose to let 27 Dresses come and go this month -- except perhaps the unassuming starring debut of a comedienne who, I suspect, will soon become a Hollywood powerhouse.
Katherine Heigl and James Marsden bring out each other's best, coaxing a joyous, rambunctious spontaneity from one another. Sadly, the lazy, stagnant script shackles them.
Plays like it thinks it's the first romantic comedy the audience has ever seen.
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