TV stars have a rich heritage in terms of movie-crossovers: Bruce Willis was once just ‘that cocky bloke from Moonlighting’, George Clooney was ‘that doctor guy with the haircut’, and there was a point where Jennifer Garner was best known as a TV spy. But many TV stars who cross that line find that they just aren’t as popular on the big screen as they were on the small (Sarah Jessica Parker, David Duchovny and Calista Flockhart being some high profile casualties). So how will Grey’s Anatomy regular Katherine Heigl fare, given the great start she made with last year’s Knocked Up?
Her second starring role is in 27 Dresses, playing unlucky-in-love Jane. A serial bridesmaid, she has played second fiddle to the blushing bride a staggering 27 times, and is pinning all of her hopes on winning over her boss George (Ed Burns). This goes awry when she introduces him to her model sister Tess (Malin Akerman). The pair fall in love and - hey! - get engaged, and Jane has to wrestle with the prospect of losing her dream guy to her sister (and being the bridesmaid at the wedding!).
It’s a safe, familiar story, with just enough twist in the tail to make it interesting. Scratch the surface and echoes of films such as My Best Friend’s Wedding and The Wedding Singer come shining through, but a clever script polishes the material. Heigl’s connection with Knocked Up means the writers can get away with a lot more risky jokes than if, for example, Cameron Diaz was starring. This lifts the whole thing up a notch and in a small way makes it less ‘Hollywood’.
A big winner here is Heigl who, whilst at times irritating as the lippy-yet-vulnerable lead, brings individuality to the role that many of her ilk would not. Whilst easy on the eye, there’s a flawed quality to her that makes it believable that this person could be you or me (just with better hair). Marsden is quite pH-neutral as charming writer Kevin (who’s secretly writing an article about Jane under the pretence of covering Tess’ wedding), and he’s really just required to quip on cue. Burns is even more anonymous, looking like he has one eye on the door in every scene he’s in.
You can’t get away from the fact that this is a vehicle to showcase Heigl, and so the story and faces are all quite familiar, however it’s the charm of the lead and some snappy writing that make this an unobtrusive film that isn’t hugely memorable, but there’s a sharpness in the execution that’ll keep you entertained.
Released: 27 March 2008
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