Tuesday, February 08, 2005

The Wedding Date Is Cute But Not That Hot

(Not the previous post, the movie.)

The Wedding Date stars Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney. (There are others but I'm not going there.)

IMDB Plot Summary:
"Something Borrowed" centers around Kat Ellis (Messing), who returns to her parents' London home for her sister's wedding. Afraid of confronting her ex-fiancé, who dumped her two years before, she hires a top-drawer male escort (Mulroney) to pose as her new boyfriend.
I felt the movie was a good effort though it fell a bit shy of the mark. It left me wanting, feeling like it was good but not that good. It probably could have been a bit better and a bit more compelling.

This truly is a romantic comedy, with a nice balance between the two aspects. Very humorous at time with the unerlying romantic flavor. The lead actress and actor are wonderful, very good fits for their role. (Although Messing painted as the "beauty past her real prime" is a bit much, especially since it made me think of all the inadequacy jokes at her character's expense in Will & Grace.) The story is fairly compelling and engaging, especially with the little twists and turns thrown at the viewer.

Those are the pluses. The minuses? The movie dumps you into the story without enough introduction. You see Messing packing for her trip. Your left to gather all the salient details from little aspects. It would have been better had the movie started with her invitation or her planning for the wedding or... well, anything earlier than her packing for the plane ride. The story is pretty predictable, or at least the romantic part. You could probably guess it right now. (Not to say you shouldn't go see the movie, just that this element is easily anticipated.) I found the ultimate romance to be a little unbelievable. I'd like to spell it out more but will refrain from doing so to avoid spoiling anything (more than I may have already).

Overall, a good movie. Not the best it could be but a nice romantic comedy. If you like the genre, check this one out. Also, it's nice to see Debra Messing in a leading role. I like her as an actress.

ALAN'S MOVIE REVIEW: Rental-Worthy or Cable-Worthy.