IMDB plot summary: After serving as a bridesmaid 27 times, a young woman wrestles with the idea of standing by her sister’s side as her sibling marries the man she’s secretly in love with.
Is this an accurate plot summary? It’s concise! Whoever wrote this one brought their A game.
No romcom leading lady divides audiences like Katherine Heigl. Sure, some people dislike Meg Ryan’s cutesy likability, and some people find Drew Barrymore annoying (please don’t tell me if you do; I love her, you know she’s my favorite). But those people aren’t vocal about their hatred like the Heigl-haters are. Right now, some of you are looking at that (bizarre and pretty creative) movie poster and cringing.
But some of her biggest critics are willing to put aside their animosity for 27 Dresses. In fact, multiple people have told me “I hate her, but I love this movie.” That’s because it’s a good romantic comedy. It’s not great or perfect…Nora Ephron it ain’t. But it understands the romcom rules, it has two leads with pretty good chemistry, and it respects its viewers.
Those three things help it overcome a premise that could be really stupid in a lesser movie. Jane (Katherine Heigl) is great at being a bridesmaid. In fact, she’s been one 27 times (”Oh, I get it now”–everyone who hasn’t seen this movie yet). One night, when she’s in two weddings clear across NYC, she meets Kevin (James Marsden), who disgusts her with his anti-marriage, anti-wedding, anti-love views. Of course she hates him, and of course he ends up with the planner she leaves behind in the cab. But guess what? Kevin’s also a journalist who covers weddings for a newspaper that’s clearly supposed to be The New York Times. And even though Jane’s been in secret love with her bland boss for basically forever, that boss ends up falling in love with her be-tubetopped sister, Tess (Malin Ackerman). You can see where this is going. Tess and Bland Boss get engaged. Their wedding gets fast-tracked. Kevin is writing about them for the newspaper. Judy Greer shows up as a sassy BFF and gamely tosses out a few witty bon mots about her sex life and alcohol intake. And when Kevin ends up writing a story about Jane’s perpetual bridesmaidness, Jane finds out and there’s yet another version of the “WAS I A BET?!” scene.
It shouldn’t work. It really, really shouldn’t work, and not just because I realize as I’m typing this that the plot is extremely similar to How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. It shouldn’t work because the newspaper story plot never makes any sense, the promiscuous BFF is played to death, and “woman who loves to plan ahead so much that she misses what’s right in front of her” and “guy who hates marriage” are two stereotypes that weren’t ever interesting, not even the first time.
But it does work, as everyone I’ve talked to has assured me. Why do we love this ultra-formulaic, totally unbelievable movie so much when other formulaic, unbelievable movies (ahem, Leap Year, I WILL NEVER FORGET WHAT YOU DID TO ME) just whither away like one of the many bouquets filling up Katherine Heigl’s apartment? Here are my postulations:
-Katherine Heigl is likable. She’s snappy without being mean, goofy without being stupid, and hopeful without being naive. Somehow, she manages to strip her face of all guile and appear as earnest as a slightly-cranky, Shonda-Rhimes-insulting baby. She’s very good at playing a sassy uptight lady.
-James Marsden. He’s great at playing a tool (see: Bachelorette), but he’s even better at playing an only sort of tool-ish sweet guy. He doesn’t want to sell Jane out! He just wants to sing Elton John songs and have a good time! Good luck getting this song out of your head.
-It’s relatable, aka The Bella From Twilight Factor. Jane never gets what she wants. We all feel like that sometimes. Much like with Bella from Twilight, it’s very, very easy to put ourselves in Jane’s shoes. Then we end up thinking, “Yeah! I DO deserve James Marsden!”
-Judy Greer can do no wrong. Yes, sassy, quirky, drunken, slutty BFFs are a “thing.” But Judy Greer can play sassy, quirky, drunken, and slutty like nobody’s business. Also, you really believe her when she’s dispensing advice. When Judy Greer says jump, you say “Why aren’t you in more movies? You deserve better.”
With its emphasis on love and nothing else, 27 Dresses is so retro-traditional it’s almost subversive. Jane’s problem is that she’s too helpful and accommodating in every aspect of her life, but this movie’s mainly about her romantic life. Jane wants to be in love and she wants to get married. When explaining her love of weddings, she says “Someday, God knows when, but someday it will be my day.” Most, if not all, of the recent studio romcoms have female leads who “accidentally” fall in love or actively avoid falling in love. Then, whoops, they wind up succumbing to the considerable charms of Bill Hader (understandable). But Jane really just wants to get married, and 27 Dresses doesn’t make fun of that. All she wants is to run headlong into her feelings, and the movie lets her do so in a way that’s surprisingly free of sexist cliches. I think a more cynical person might look at this movie and think that the plot is “bitches love weddings,” but 27 Dresses isn’t cynical in the least. In fact, Jane dismissively refers to Kevin as cynical at least twice, and look what happens to him (totally falls in love and gets married, bro). 27 Dresses is optimistic, hopeful, and completely charming, and that’s why even the Heigl-haters love it.
Romantic comedy cliches: A journalist, a sassy/promiscuous/hard-drinking BFF, NYC, a woman leaving behind her planner/purse/pocketbook, women talking about relationships during yoga, a climactic rainstorm, singing poorly, falling into someone and kissing, cathartic cleaning/throwing things away, sharing a taxi, chasing someone through the city to make a declaration of love, a big speech, a wedding, a man who hates marriage, a dress montage, a sister who steals the spotlight
Is this a good movie? For avowed romcom haters, maybe not. But for those of us who are on board, yes.
Did I like this movie? Totally. If this movie wrote a secret newspaper article about me, I wouldn’t even be mad.
Did this movie make me believe in love? Yes. 27 Dresses has no shortage of hope, optimism, and complete belief in happy endings.
Would I watch this movie again? Oh, you sweet summer child. I’ve watched this one multiple times already and I don’t plan to stop now.
What should I watch next week? Let me know your suggestions on Twitter @KerryAnn or send me an email at [email protected]. Bonus points for things on Netflix, Amazon Prime, or HBO!
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