Engaging

>> Katherine Heigl’s charm makes 27 Dresses an enjoyable wedding-themed romantic comedy

by MALCOLM FRASER

Judging from the previews for 27 Dresses, you’d expect an intolerable stew of the worst Hollywood has to offer—clichés, trite humour and family-values brainwashing. It’s a relief to report that it’s nowhere near that awful; rather, it’s a slightly-above-average romantic comedy with just enough charm to save it from mediocrity.

Katherine Heigl, of Grey’s Anatomy and Knocked Up fame, plays Jane, a Manhattan magazine editor’s assistant whose life revolves around attending, participating in and planning her friends’ weddings. She’s so matrimony-obsessed that she even clips out the weekly wedding column from a local paper. She’s secretly in love with her boss George (Edward Burns), and rejects the advances of cocky journalist Kevin (James Marsden), who unbeknownst to her is the pseudonymous writer of her beloved column. When her bimbo sister Tess (Malin Akerman) gets engaged to Burns, Heigl’s cheery personality is put to the test.

It’s hard to say exactly what elevates the film above rom-com predictability. It could be the fact that, unlike many a chick flick, it’s actually written and directed by women (The Devil Wears Prada scribe Aline Brosh McKenna and dance choreographer-turned-director Anne Fletcher, respectively), but that can’t be all. Heigl definitely has a je ne sais quoi as an actress; she has Hollywood looks, but her naturalistic expressions, gestures and manner of speaking give her the feeling of someone you’d like to hang out with.

Like most good comedies these days, the film is also peppered with actors from the Judd Apatow/Office/Arrested Development axis of comic awesomeness. Judy Greer, who Arrested fans will remember as crazed breast-baring secretary Kitty, practically steals the movie as Heigl’s best friend Casey; her eye-rolling cynicism towards Heigl’s obsessions feels like a fresh gust of sanity.

Just when you think the movie might go in a subversive or at least different direction, it’s quickly re-routed towards a traditional Hollywood resolution. Of course, we’ve known that’s how the mainstream rolls at least since Ally Sheedy’s makeover in The Breakfast Club, but it’s still a bit frustrating to see the plot and characters’ rough edges systematically smoothed out. Still, if romantic comedy is your thing, you could certainly do worse than this enjoyable trifle.

27 Dresses opens this
Friday, Jan. 18

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