Movie Review: 27 Dresses

Some of my best friends have accused me, at times, of just out-and-out being a girl. I'll be the first to admit that I'm strongly in touch with my feminine side and often get along better with women than men. Even some of my better women friends have said I'm like having a girlfriend.

I did nothing to dispel any of these assertions last night. When a planned dinner party at a business partner's house was canceled our kids still wanted to sleep over at my sister-in-law's, and we found ourselves with a free night of no kids. Pre-kids, we would easily see at least one or two movies a week. Now with a 4 and 6-year-old, we're lucky if we've heard of most movies by the time they make it to DVD.

We had plenty of choices when we pulled up to the theater last night: Juno, Oscar-nominated indie comedy; Cloverfield, JJ Abrams monster-marauding-through-NYC-pic; and 27 Dresses, a popular romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and James Marsden (X-Men movies, among others.) There are plenty of reasons I'd want to see the first two. Juno seems excellently written and acted, and in Cloverfield Abrams blows up a lot of shit in dramatic and exciting ways.

I chose the chick flick, and I'm glad I did. Dresses, while containing the required romantic comedy cliched plot points, was smartly written and Heigl and Marsden had palpable on-screen chemistry. The basic plot centers around the always-a-bridesmaid-but-never-a-bride world of Jane (Heigl) whose Mom died when she and her sister were very young. Jane had to help her dad raise her little sister, and in the process learned how to put everyone's needs before her own. Consequently, she has convinced herself that one of the most wonderful things in the world is to support all her friends as a bridesmaid on their most important day.

Kevin (Marsden) is the talented but jaded writer of the Commitments section of the New York Journal magazine, but sees weddings (with their expensive cakes, designer gowns and custom floral arrangements) as nothing more than fuel for the $80 billion per year wedding industry. Naturally when the two of them get together sparks fly and hijinks (including a memorable karaoke rendition of Benny and the Jets) ensue.

I don't want to give away too much of the plot, especially since there's very little that can be given away in this type of movie. I enjoyed watching it and Heigl and Marsden turned in some very nice performances. If you're looking for a good date movie, or you're a big manly man with a deep connection to your feminine side, this chick flick is for you.