Katherine Heigl gets her Juila Roberts on in the romantic comedy 27 Dresses as Jane, a friendly woman who can’t say no to planning weddings for the many people she knows. Ever since she was young she’s loved weddings, even though she doesn’t seem to have the time to find a future groom of her own. She’s in love with her boss, George (Edward Burns), but when Jane’s sister Tess (Malin Akerman) drops in for a visit, Tess and George fall in love and before Jane knows it, they’re engaged to be married and she’s planning their wedding. Let the cliched rom-com hijinks begin!
Along the way Jane meets Kevin (James Marsden), a cynical, anti-marriage commitments writer for the fictional New York Journal and the two begin a bickering love/hate relationship. Chances are you know how it’ll turn out.
27 Dresses treads familiar ground from start to finish. It has a decent hook (the bridesmaid angle), but overall it brings nothing new to the rom-com genre. Heigl and Marsden dive into their roles, and at times go overboard in their performances, and the script doesn’t have enough wit up its sleeve to keep us laughing. It’s a good thing we’re somewhat invested in the characters (and that says more about the cast than the script) because the script doesn’t give us much of a reason to stick around to attend the reception. That said, this is Heigl’s show and she doesn’t disappoint. Despite a few overacting mis-steps, she proves why she’s the next big female star and her performance in 27 Dresses makes them worth trying on.
VIDEO
Despite being released in 2008, 27 Dresses sometimes looks like it was released in 1998. The 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen picture is worn and lacks vibrancy that new releases should have on DVD. All in all it’s a solid picture but I expected more from such big studio new release.
AUDIO
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack for 27 Dresses has music going for it and that’s about it. There are some natural sounds dispersed through the sound field but it’s not enough to force us to take notice. The music is handled well, as is dialogue. But hey, you didn’t rent or buy this film to be blown away by the soundtrack, did you?
SPECIAL FEATURES
The Wedding Party is your standard making-of/behind-the scenes featurette. The things we learn are that James Marsden, after appearing in a bunch of films where he doesn’t get the girl, finally gets the girl and the producer proclaims that director Anne Fletcher will be “the next great romantic-comedy director.” Do you hear that Robert Luketic?
In You’ll Never Have to Wear That Again, costume designers gush about having the ability to go overboard with the dresses featured in the movie, and how they made them all different from one another and… ugly.
Jane’s World shows us how the Production Designer used Rhode Island as a stand-in for New York City and how he filmed each wedding to make them stand apart from one another. He also explains how he wanted Jane’s Village apartment and work environment to become “a character of their own” in the film.
Running of the Brides showcases a one-day sale that department store Filene’s Basement puts on once a year and the people who camp out the night before in order to get their wedding dress at a significantly lower price.
Next up are only 3 deleted scenes. One is very short, and probably deserved to be cut, but I thought the other two could have probably been left in the film as being pretty funny on their own.
Rounding out the Special Features for 27 Dresses are some Trailers for Lars and the Real Girl, Moondance Alexander, Bonneville, Burn Notice – Season 1 and a network trailer for Bones.
Another feature included on the disc is an Inside Look of the new Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher romantic comedy, What Happens in Vegas. It only runs about two minutes long and has the two stars discussing their experiences in Vegas. As a matter of fact, when I was in Vegas, I saw Kutcher there filming the movie. Cool, huh?
FINAL THOUGHTS
27 Dresses is a cute chick flick that most boyfriends or husbands will stick around for because of Katherine Heigl. It’s short on laughs, but does manage to create worthwhile characters. However, there is nothing new to be found here. The A/V specs are solid, but not great, and the Special Features are as fluffy as the film itself. Overall, 27 Dresses is worth a spin on a date night at home.
