27 volte in bianco

Although this movie is a bit typical, it's still a breezy, light hearted romp, which is all it appears to be trying to do. It's got formulaic construction familiar in romantic comedies, yet it knows it's just harmless fluff and doesn't try to be anything more.

Kathryn Heigl is certainly the strength of the film, with an exuberant approach to her "hopeless romantic" always the bridesmaid character who longs for that special day of her own. The performance is playful and silly when needed, and sweetly honest in the more serious moments. The rest of the cast are all good, too; the personality collisions of various characters are usually well done. The sight gags involving the dresses are clever, and the story runs its course effectively.

There are weaknesses, such as the ugly, mean spirited, and out-of-place slide show sequence. The script could have accomplished the point which is made there in some better way.

Light popcorn fun. Like fast food, it probably won't stick with you for long, but it's good for some entertaining silliness. One thing I'm still wondering: how much would scuba-gear set back the wedding party members?

Greetings again from the darkness. Exactly as you might expect ... a chick flick with one layer. No problem with a movie that doesn't try to be something it's not. Director Anne Fletcher seems to be the straight-forward type and she is making a good living with it. Doesn't hurt when your simple, predictable lines are played out by Katherine Heigl, Edward Burns, James Marsden and the underrated Judy Greer.

Heigl ("Knocked Up", "Grey's Anatomy") is nice to look at and has excellent comedic timing and a strong screen presence. Hopefully she doesn't settle for just straight up comedy as I would like to see her tackle some serious material in the next year or two (see Scarlett Johansson, Charlize Theron, Naomi Watts). Marsden is certainly an up and comer ("Hairspray") who has the looks to go with his talent. Judy Greer seems to have taken over the Joan Cusack roles of playing second fiddle and then stealing every scene. Over the top a couple of times here, but her scene with Heigl after the slide show is top shelf stuff.

Basic premise is pretty funny but there are no twists and turns. Still for the chick flick formula, it is passable thanks to the strong cast. Biggest problem is the casting of Malin Akerman as the "pretty" sister. That's Hollywood's notion ... Heigl gets the nod any day in the real world.

Out of a good conscious, I cannot give this movie anything higher than a 6, although, sometimes I think it deserves even less. This movie followed the conventional script by EVERY step. Basic plot: single white female, hardly/never been a real relationship, finds the right guy under the wrong circumstances. These romcoms are particularly set in New York City(like 27 Dresses) or in a country town.

At this point, I could pretty much give you detail to detail without checking the spoiler marker and I doubt anyone would be upset at me. You don't need to watch this at all to know the beginning, middle, and end of the movie.

The beginning contrives of the childhood moment, followed by character introductions. It has the I'm-better-than-you younger sibling, the supportive parent(s), and the complete opposite best friend(played by Judy Greer, once again).

The middle consist of the turning point where the main character begins to fall for the leading male role(to my surprise, James Marsden played the lead and not the "other man" this time around) but completely denies it until the ending of the middle, which is usually followed by the embarrassing climax of the movie... that follows with a melancholic montage.

The ending... *sigh* the most predictable of them all. The leading female comes to the realization of her mistakes and through some usually comedic last-minute scenarios, she apologizes and get her man.

We saw this over and over. I'm seriously not one to complain about predictable movies. I can watch the cliché romcom and still enjoy them... if they are enjoyable. This was, in fact, enjoyable. I laughed, I smiled, I frowned, and then I said "awwww!" as the credits were rolling, in that exact order. It was nothing new.

Bottom Line: If you like the cliché, then you'll LOVE this movie.

I watch Grey's Anatomy every week so I guess I'm a bit of a Katherine Hiegel fan. I liked her in Knocked Up and she's decent in this film. In fact the whole cast is quite good. I just felt like I had seen this film before somewhere (or parts of it in different films). I guess I watched it because I'm getting married soon so I wanted to see the dresses in the film (and there are some amazing ones and some interesting ones for those who care about dresses). The audience didn't seem to laugh as much as I thought they would. This is not the same kind of film as Knocked Up and maybe people were expecting that. Otherwise, its a decent Tuesday-night date movie.

For many the plot of this movie feels formulaic and revisited. Jane (Katherine Heigl) is the people-pleaser of the century. A somewhat spineless nice girl who can't say no to anyone, she has been a bridesmaid 27 times, often exceeding her duties in every wedding. For all her romantic yearnings, she can't seem to hook her boss, George (Ed Burns) whom she has been in love with for years. When her self-centered little sister Tess (Malin Akerman) comes in and manages to snag George, Jane once again capitulates to everyone's needs but her own. In comes Kevin (James Marsden), a newspaper columnist stuck covering weddings who yearns to break out and write about more important things. Under the pretense of covering George and Tess's wedding, he really is writing about Jane and her perpetual bridesmaid stints. Complications ensue etc. etc.

For me, what really made this movie was the performances. Katherine Heigl did an absolutely fantastic job playing the woman that I'm sure everyone has felt like at one time. She brought a lot of spice to what could have been a one-note role. James Marsden is also pitch-perfect as the cynical reporter, a foil to Jane. It helps that they have good fight-and-kiss chemistry.

Also, for me the story line was not as tired and recycled as people made it out to be. It had some fresh spin and I really enjoyed it. I also preferred the ending to this movie to many chick-flick comedies which leave things open-ended and almost unrealistic. 27 Dresses wraps up all the plot lines in one neat sequence that is a truly worthy finale.

All in all, as far as romances and rom-coms go, this one shot to the top of my list.