27 Dresses
Jennifer Zartman Romano, www.talkofthetownwc.com
January 29, 2008
Based on the giggles I heard in the audience the night I reviewed the film 27 Dresses starring Katherine Heigl, I must not be the only 30-something with a closet full of garish gowns from weddings gone by. Indeed, most women probably have a few hideous reminders of a friend or loved one’s big day – and that’s what it’s all about, right? And for that reason, most women will find something to love about 27 Dresses.
For the main character, Jane, her love affair with weddings began at the age of eight when she found herself indispensable to a bride on her wedding day. Thereafter, she was the girl every friend wanted beside her on her big day and it was a role she took seriously – stepping in to help with details, to the point where she was the one being stepped on.
Jane sleeps, eats and breathes weddings. She follows the writings of a local journalist, Malcolm Doyle, who covers weddings each weekend for the local newspaper. She saves his articles tucked in a scrapbook, along with musings about the various details she would plan for her wedding – if she ever were to get married.
Silently yearning for the affections of her
boss, George, Jane daydreams of the day when she will be transformed
from eternal bridesmaid to glowing bride. Her dreams are crushed
when her shiny, superficial model sister returns from
The romance is a whirlwind affair and shortly after the night on the dance floor, a wedding is in the works. Given her seemingly natural-born proclivity to wedding planning, Jane is the obvious choice for a bridesmaid. Actually, she is the only choice – her sister doesn’t have many female friends (she appears to be the kind other women love to hate) and so she’s not only given the task of planning most of the wedding, but finding bridesmaids for her sister as well. Even on the eve of the wedding fiasco, Jane can’t get over George and can’t come clean about her feelings to her sister, either.
Along the way, Jane meets Malcolm, also known as Kevin, and for whatever reason does not seem to draw the connection that he’s the same writer she follows in the papers each week? Regardless, she is disappointed when, after confronting him with this revelation, she finds that man who so eloquently captures the emotion of weddings in his newspaper column is really a cynical, jaded man who nearly makes fun of the idea of marriage – or is he?
I won’t give away any more of the details that pull the show together, but I will say there are actually more than 27 dresses…
The film was a joint effort between screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna, writer of the recently acclaimed film adaptation of The Devil Wears Prada, and director Anne Fletcher, a former choreographer-turned -filmmaker most recently associated with a film called Step Up in 2006. Heigl’s role in this film is much like her role in the television show “Grey’s Anatomy” – she’s the beautiful, complicated, single, sweet girl next door…except that in this story line she’s got a self-destructive streak too. George, played by Ed Burns, is strangely naïve for a guy who seems to be worldly and impressive. Malcolm/Kevin (James Marsden) is persistent and a guy I’d be personally willing to toss…except that he just keeps coming back around for some reason.
There are two ways of looking at this film. If you’re up for a cheesy, girls’ night out, loving weddings for the sake of loving weddings kind of film, this fits the bill. If you don’t want to analyze the story line too much, this fits. But, if you’re looking for a smart story line, an uplifting, deep thinking, greater meaning kind of movie – like most of the bridesmaid’s gowns in my closet – this one just won’t fit.
But, I was in the right mood to enjoy this particular film the night I saw it and loved it for all the reasons that made it hokey and predictable. I was seated in a comfy seat at our local Bones Theatre, with an oversized bag of popcorn, a big soda and my best gal pal, my daughter Mahri, seated next to me. We were up for a movie that gushed girly-ness and over the top details. Obviously, some of the story line was a little beyond her, but it was easy enough to follow that she enjoyed it too – particularly the parade of gowns (I totally loved that part too). We had a really, exceptionally good time to the point where, upon leaving, it occurred to me that she’s old enough for a mother-daughter night out at the movies more often.
When we got home, as we were getting out of the car, she said, “This was the best night of my whole life.” I smiled and said, “Yeah, but what about when you get married?” She giggled and said, “Oh yeah, that too…but did you see those dresses?!?”