Made of Honor (2008)

I have not seen My Best Friend’s Wedding but I’m going to assume that there are some recycled and gender-reversed elements of that popular film at play in this 2008 rom-com. That being said, Made of Honor might actually be faring better than it ought to if it is something of a rehash. Aside from its strapping lead man, some witty dialog and a few amusing scenes, there isn’t a lot going for this mostly formulaic film.

After getting acquainted under amusing circumstances in college, Tom Bailey, Jr. (Patrick Dempsey) and Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) spend the next ten years as best friends. Tom designed the coffee collar and is loaded to the gills and keeps himself occupied as a serial dater when he’s not hanging out with Hannah as friends. Hannah strives for a more responsible life, working for a museum but still enjoys the companionship of Tom.

When business whisks Hannah away from the States for a while, Tom is bored and misses her. He comes to the realization that he has loved her all along and decides to ask her out when she returns. Unfortunately for him, Hannah returns to America with a wealthy Scottish fiancé and throws Tom for a loop by asking him to be her Maid of Honor. It’s a tightrope walk as Tom has to play nice with Hannah’s jealous bridesmaids while planning a wedding that he desperately wants to break up.

That pretty much tells you all you need to know, right? The concept of best friends realizing they love each other has been played out enough times that it barely fazes you anymore. The filmmakers dress it up with the amusing idea of having the bride-to-be select a man as her Maid of Honor. It may work for women who have experience in the cutthroat realm of being a bridesmaid but it seems like a silly construct to me. If he’s her best friend, wouldn’t it be logical just to make him a groomsman?

Perhaps I’m being too harsh on this film. Having a man as the Maid of Honor could have been used for a crude, Frat Pack comedy featuring nothing but trashy humor and vulgarity. The romantic aspect of the film holds it back from becoming sophomoric but it doesn’t help it avoid the general silliness that most chick flicks fall victim to. But those are the trappings that bring women into the theaters and until that changes, we will continue to have run of the mill films like this.

Of all the actors who are doing romantic comedies these days, Patrick Dempsey is among the easiest to watch. Perhaps it’s because he’s on a primetime soap/drama (Grey’s Anatomy), where he plays a similar charming and loveable sort of guy. He hasn’t done any action movies and even his moonlighting in the horror genre (Scream 3) he was a sympathetic kind of role. Given his resume, there’s not much in the way of preconceived notions about what films he should be doing and none of his roles have been iconic to the point where you have a hard time thinking of him as any other character. He also usually does a pretty good job with his characters, so I can’t hold it against him for sticking with what works.

There are a few nice location shots with some beautiful scenery but that’s not enough to make up for Made of Honor's predictability. That won’t bother the target audience of the film though. Women love this stuff and, seeing as I am not a woman, I do not. If you’re in the mood for silly, romantic escapism, you could certainly do a lot worse.

RATING: 2.5 out of 5