27 Dresses

Going into this, it must be noted that Sarah likes romantic comedies, and I (Jasmyn) actively hate them. In fact, the first time we saw this movie, in theaters, Sarah had seen it already (but wanted to see The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), and I was hell-bent on seeing Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Unfortunately, every movie except 27 Dresses was sold out, because Hannah Montana in Concert premiered that night and all the tweens' parents had swarmed the rest of the theater. Sarah wasn't pleased, but I was PISSED.



Directed By: Anne Fletcher (The Proposal, Step Up)
Starring: Katherine Heigl and James Marsden
Plot Summary: "Katherine Heigl's really good at playing career-driven, self-righteous, accidentally self-sacrificing bitches."

There is nothing that gets in the way of a solid romantic comedy (with a good script by Aline Brosh McKenna, who also wrote The Devil Wears Prada) faster than Katherine Heigl. Her character, Jane, the woman who has infamously been a bridesmaid or maid-of-honor 27 times, is one of those people who can never say no. She, like all of Heigl's characters, is always put-upon. The only difference between Jane and Alison (Knocked Up), Abby (The Ugly Truth), or Holly (Life As We Know It) is that Jane is slightly more pathetic. She's just as passive-aggressive as the others, but Jane's closer to the passive end of the spectrum. The closer we inspected the plot developments and dialogue of these roles, collectively, we found that the characters themselves weren't that problematic. Heigl, however, gives everyone she plays an anal, bitchy twist with a sense of entitlement, so if Anne Hathaway, Drew Barrymore, or even Reese Witherspoon had starred in these movies instead, the characters wouldn't be so grating. Heigl's portrayals always become reenactments of The Taming of the Shrew, so she makes ambitious women look bad.

Observations Made As We Watched:
We had a lot of thoughts about how irritating Heigl is, but that's mostly it, except:

"JAMES MARSDEN IS HEEEERE!"

Casting the leads was another big issue with this movie. We didn't believe Edward Burns as Jane's eco-friendly, outdoorsy dream guy (because it was easier to see him in a 5-episode arc as a WASPy, Upper East Side love interest on Gossip Girl), and we didn't believe Malin Akerman as Jane's spoiled, manipulative sister (because that character could've been a great antagonist, but Akerman plays her so flatly). When we're supposed to understand why Jane's obsessed with George, and supposed to root for Jane to triumph over Tess, but neither is interesting, that's a problem. The exception to this problem is James Marsden, who plays Kevin, the cynical shrew-tamer for this particular venture. That man could play a Tourette's-riddled Nazi with rickets and make him charming.

The Best Part: As a romantic comedy, it was a very solid script. Also, Judy Greer shows up for about 15 minutes, and any Judy Greer appearance, in any movie, is a scene-stealer.

The Worst Part: Katherine Heigl.

With a different actress, this would be a B. In fact, we might've left it alone entirely. However, because it is what it is, with Heigl destroying everything, it's a C+.

(Poster and trailer © 20th Century Fox)