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Katharine Heigl plays Jane, a woman who just loves going to weddings, being a bridesmaid for her friends and in most cases being the go to person when it comes to making wedding arrangements. We find out quickly that Jane's fascination and knack for helping with weddings came about soon after her mother died when as a very young child she helped her sister find a bathroom, fix her hair, and used a bow in her sister's hair to repair the bride's wedding dress. When we catch up with Jane as an adult, it turns out that she is a bridesmaid at two different weddings on the same night, requiring her to hire a taxi for the evening and to shuttle back and forth between the two receptions changing in and out of the different bridesmaid dresses while riding in the back seat.Enter Kevin (James Marsden). Kevin is a newspaper reporter whose present job consists of going to weddings and then writing about them. It's a job he loathes, but we all have to make a living somehow don't we? Before the night is over Jane is forced to share her Taxi with Kevin, whom she quickly decides she does not like. After Jane departs for the evening, Kevin discovers her daily planner and finds out that Jane has pretty much made a lifetime career of being a bridesmaid. Twenty-seven times to be exact. Kevin convinces his editor to let him write a story about Jane which if successful, will get him a promotion and out of the Wedding of the Week Club.Meanwhile on the home front, we soon discover that the reason Jane herself may never have gotten married is because she is carrying the torch for her boss George (Edward Burns). And no, it's not a case of George not knowing that Jane exists. In fact, as far as George is concerned, Jane is indispensable. It's just that he doesn't see her as a love interest but does acknowledge that she is one of the best necktie tiers in the country. Jane hopes all of that will change someday, despite the fact that her co-worker and friend Casey (Judy Greer) is constantly nagging her to move on with her life.And if all of that weren't complicated enough for you, Jane's beautiful sister Tess (Malin Akerman) promptly flies into town, meets Boss George, and quicker than you can say Dress Number 28, they begin dating and falling in love much to the chagrin of Jane. This of course leaves Jane and Kevin to somehow begin dating even though she loathes his cynical attitude towards marriage.So will George and Tess get married? Or will George realize that Jane is the girl for him? Will Kevin be the one to actually fall for Tess? Or does he only have eyes for Jane? Will Kevin write the story about Jane's 27 appearances as a bridesmaid? And will it be published about the time his cynicism might be turning to love? Will George discover that Tess isn't all she is cracked up to be and turn to Jane for comfort? Will Jane finally tire of being a bridesmaid and wedding planner all rolled into one? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that you'll be able to answer all of those above questions by the time 27 Dresses has completed about a fourth of its 107 minutes of running time. But chances are it won't matter to you one bit that the film is so obviously predictable, just as most of the films in the romance genre usually are. You'll enjoy it anyway thanks to another strong performance by Katharine Heigl.It's one thing to star in a film of this sort and to get a few laughs with some well written snappy dialog, but Heigl manages to go beyond that. She has this wonderful ability to draw the audience into her character. You can readily identify with her, laugh with her, cry for her, be embarrassed for her, and to feel as sad and lonely as she seems to be in the early part of this movie. We cheer her when she finally does take a stance, but we feel her remorse for having done so when it backfires to some extent. There are only a handful of actresses who can manage all of that, and do it all in one film.The supporting cast in this film aren't exactly slouches either. Malin Akerman does a great job of making Tess the evil obnoxious sister that you'll love to hate. James Marsden manages to somehow make his character believable as someone who is suppose to be a jerk on the outside, but yet gives indications that there is more to Kevin than meets the eye. But best of the supporting players is Judy Greer as Jane's best friend Casey. She has at least three of the films funniest including doing her best to literally knock some sense into Jane at one point.The bottom line is this. Most romantic comedies are predictable. They are only successful when they have a good but novel gimmick to make thing interesting and when the script has enough witty and tug at your heart string moments to make it worth your while. But most importantly, the actors have to make you care about them and their romantic dilemma, and to feel the same ranges of emotions that they are feeling on the screen. And thanks in large part to another fine effort by Katharine Heigl, 27 dresses certainly manages to do that. And when a film can achieve such lofty goals I have no choice but to give it my grade, which for 27 Dresses would be a B-.
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