Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
Cast:
- Patrick Dempsey
- Michelle Monaghan
- Kevin McKidd
- Kathleen Quinlan
- Sydney Pollack
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Review - "Made of Honor"
Reviewer: Charise Payne
Rating:
The romantic comedy genre is supposed to be fun, light-hearted, full of laughs, and in the end, make you fall in love with that guy or girl who makes the film worthwhile. You should leave the theatre happy, giddy, more in love with your date than when you first walked in, and especially in the mood for love. Well, Made of Honor didn't do any of that; in fact, it fell flat on its face. I had high hopes for this film: it had Patrick Dempsey, who made all women swoon in Enchanted and charms our pants off in "Grey's Anatomy" on a weekly basis. He did neither in this movie.
Made of Honor is about a rich, successful ladies' man, Tom (Patrick Dempsey), who is determined to stay single. He has very strict set of rules for himself when it come to women: he never sleeps with the same woman two nights in a row, never brings a girl that he is dating to a family function, and never lets a woman into his apartment. Of course, these rules are to protect himself from getting emotionally attached, and, more importantly, to keep him from falling in love. But with Hannah (Michelle Monaghan), his best friend, the rules are thrown out the window because she is not a girlfriend, she is a mate, so she is safe.
Oh, how wrong Tom is. When Hannah is invited by the museum she works for to go help with a purchase of a collection in Scotland, she has to leave New York for six weeks. Tom is left without his best friend to talk to and pal around with, and it causes him to take stock of his life. In the process, he realizes that he is in love with Hannah, and that he has to tell her as soon as possible.
When Hannah gets back from Scotland, Tom is overjoyed. He has decided to tell her he wants to be with her and only her. But Hannah has other plans in mind. While in Scotland, she fell in love with a handsome Scotsman named Colin (Kevin McKidd), and to top it off, she is engaged. To make things worse, Hannah asks Tom to be her Maid of Honor. Tom is floored and doesn't know how to respond. He loves this woman, and now he has to keep quiet and support his best friend. Or does he?
If you're wondering why this plot sounds strangely familiar, it is because Julia Roberts filmed this movie about eleven years ago. It was called My Best Friend's Wedding, and the first one was done so well that the second should have hung up its dancing shoes before the music started.
But like Roberts' character in My Best Friend's Wedding, Tom struggles with his feelings for Hannah and his role of being the Maid of Honor. Tom tries to be a good friend and pal around with Colin, but really all he wants to do is sweep Hannah off her feet. Tom is torn; does he tell her he loves her or does he trust that she knows what is best for herself and let her marry Colin?
Made of Honor is a cute film, but not cute enough to avoid all the clichés: the mean bridesmaid who hates Tom but then rips his clothes off when she gets drunk, the fat friend who is trying to get skinny before the wedding, the bagpipe-playing perfect fiancé who happens to be a duke, the handsome, horseback-riding hero who rescues the fair maiden. Does any of this sound like a Harlequin novel to you, or is it just me? The movie felt as if the writers (Adam Sztykiel, Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan) just recycled the script from My Best Friend's Wedding, but changed it from a girl to a guy and mixed-up the ending, which unfortunately was not enough to save this film.
Made of Honor does sneak in a few laughs, albeit at the expense of a 90-year-old grandmother with a sex toy around her neck, but in general, it falls flat and doesn't succeed at being endearing or attracting its female target audience. Perhaps next time the writers could begin with something original and use their imaginations. That is what they are paid for. Just saying!
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