27 Dresses

Always the bridesmaid and never the bride is a common phrase and one that a lot of single ladies get to hear one time too many. Enter Jane Nichols, played by Katherine Heigl, an all round sweetie who just does not know when to say no. She will do anything for anyone even to the expense of her own happiness. Things such as being a bridesmaid at wedding after wedding (27 in fact) and even two on one night and dashing about like a grass hopper to each wedding reception. Madly in love with her free spirited boss, George played by Edward Burns, Jane plods along at her work place desperately hoping that he will notice her. Her heart is crushed when George falls head over heels with her self absorbed younger sister, Tess, played by Malin Akerman but she manages to put her feelings aside and help the couple plan their wedding. At one of her many stints as a bridesmaid, Jane meets Kevin Doyle played by James Marsden who - unknown to Jane - is covering the wedding for his wedding column in the New York City Journal. The two clash right away due to their contrasting views on marriage. Jane is the eternal romantic optimist while Kevin is a true cynic who detest the idea of marriage and dislikes writing his column even more. When Kevin comes across Jane's diary he takes a peep and sees that it full of back to back weddings and he immediately pitches a story to his editor about the perpetual bridesmaid in the hope that it will advance his career. To add a twist into the tale, Jane is a great fan of Kevin's wedding column but as he writes it under the pseudonym of Malcolm Doyle, Jane has no idea that it is penned by him.

27 Dresses is very entertaining and draws great performances from Katherine Heigl and James Marsden but moreover it also serves as a wake up call. If you have ever held a light for that special someone and waited around in the hope for that wondrous day when he or she would see the light and declare their undenying love - then this film is for you. 27 Dresses contains many themes such as loyalty, friendship, honesty and good old fashioned romance as well as delusion. The film teaches you that if that person who you have been mooching around for a certain period of time has never shown a romantic interest in you then - guess what - he or she never will. Despite how many nice and helpful things you do for that person you will always be good old Jane.

My first exposure to Katherine was seeing her play Gerard Depardieu's daughter in the comedy, My Father, the Hero back in 1994. She shone like a bright light in that film and I thought that she would rocket to stardom but funnily enough it never really happened. However a role in the last year's hit film, Knocked Up and the TV series Grey's Anatomy made certain of Katherine's future as one of Hollywood's leading ladies. The success of 27 Dresses combined with her Marilyn (esque) look at The Oscars now has the industry touting her as heiress to Meg Ryan's crown of the new queen of rom coms. In my opinion it is a worthy title but I am sure a certain Renee Witherspoon will have something to say about that. Also great to see James Marsden in a big film. the last time I saw him was in the mystery thriller film, Gossip. Anne Fletcher does a great job in what is her second directing job. The dancer turned choreographer turned director has had amazing success with dance film, Step Up and Step 2 the Streets so it is no surprise to me to hear that she also produced another of my favourite films, The Wedding Planner. Talking of favourite films, Aline Brosh McKenna comes up trumps with a cracking script but then what else would you expect from someone who produced the script for The Devil Wears Prada and Laws of Attraction.