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Review #641 of 365
Movie Review of Made of Honor (2008) [PG-13] 101 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $10.75
Where Viewed: United Artists Denver Pavilions Stadium 15, Denver, CO
When Seen: 2 May 2008
Time: 2:30 pm
DVD Release Date: 16 September 2008 (click date to purchase or pre-order)
Film's Official Website • Film's Trailer
Soundtrack: order the CD below
Directed by: Paul Weiland (Sixty Six )
Screenplay by: Adam Sztykiel ("2001 MTV Movie Awards") • Deborah Kaplan (Surviving Christmas) • Harry Elfont (Surviving Christmas) Story by Adam Sztykiel
Featured Cast (Where You Might Remember Him/Her From):
Patrick Dempsey (Enchanted) • Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone) • Kevin McKidd (The Last Legion) • Kadeem Hardison (Bratz: The Movie) • Chris Messina (Ira and Abby) • Richmond Arquette (Halloween) • Busy Philipps ("ER") • Whitney Cummings ("Close-Up") • Emily Nelson (The Windfisherman) • Kathleen Quinlan (Breach) • Selma Stern (Bruce Almighty) • Sydney Pollack (Michael Clayton) • James Sikking (Fever Pitch) • Kevin Sussman (For Your Consideration)
Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word or less review of this film]
Click to see photos from the Premiere of Made of Honor
Click to read the spoiler points for Made of Honor
Hmm, a 'chick-flick' with a twist? The twist is that Made of Honor, directed by Paul Weiland from a screenplay by Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan, and Harry Elfon, is really sort of from a guy's perspective. Scratching your head? How about the marketing efforts for this film? It was one of the first new posters up in theaters in January, and the marketing blitz has been non-stop since. Which usually means one of two things: the producers spent a lot of money on the film and are worried it won't do well…or…the producers spent a lot of money on the film and they are really, really proud of it. One would think that simply the casting of Dr. McDreamy aka Patrick Dempsey (remember back in the day when he was being seduced by Kirstie Alley in Loverboy?) would cause this film to leap to the top of the box office charts with no marketing money spent at all. Well, unfortunately, not wishing to be the bearer of the not so great news, but as much as a 'chick flick' from the male perspective might have seemed like a great idea to Adam Sztykiel (he's the guy credited with the story idea) and subsequently to everyone else who got on board (bored) with this concept, at least this guy's perspective fails to do the one thing all good 'chick flicks' must do, and that is make you cry tears of sadness and then joy. There's no crying induced in this one because, probably, it's all from the male perspective and (a) men don't cry—except when they go to 'chick flicks' by themselves or when they think the girl they are with will find it a turn on rather than a sign of sappy weakness, (b) men don't write films where the hero loses out on the girl of his dreams…oops, I hope that doesn't spoil this film too much for you. The point is if you know that (a) and (b) are both true, well, there's not going to be any crying induced by Made of Honor. Well, you might start to tear up a teeny, tiny bit at one point, but not much.
What's it all about? Well, the trailers pretty much set it up correctly. Tom (Patrick Dempsey) is the inventor of the coffee collar from which he gets a dime for every one used around the world. So, he doesn't have to work and spends his days fluttering around Manhattan doing practically nothing but figuring out who he's going to sleep with that evening. He's got principles, he calls them rules, about not sleeping with the same woman back-to-back evenings, only once a week, etc., etc., etc.. He plays basketball, two on two, with his buds: Felix (Kadeem Hardison), Dennis (Chris Messina), and Gary (Richmond Arquette) while trying to avoid eye contact with running joke Tiny Shorts Guy (Kevin Sussman) whom they never let play. His favorite day of the week though, is obviously Sundays. For, on Sundays, he gets to spend the day with Hannah (Michelle Monaghan).
bland…cardboard, mostly stereotypical characters…
Their relationship dates back to college where she practically crucifies him one night at a party when he tries to come on to her soundly putting him in his place. He's so intrigued and turned on by her he can barely resist her for a moment. Whatever happens, the two become long-term friends as intimate as two soul mates can get without consummating the deal or finally breaking down and getting married. Life is too perfect for him to even think about marriage. He has all the curiosity sex he could ever dream of and the stability and friendship of a perfect life mate all at once. Indeed, it's not even clear if they were to get married it would work out. What he doesn't know, however, is that she really does want to get married and settle down which is why when she goes on a six-week business trip to Scotland for the museum she comes back with Colin McMurray (Kevin McKidd) in tow and a prompt request that he, Tom, become her Maid of Honor (hence the title). Although, arguably, the title, changed to Made of Honor, becomes a misnomer for it's hardly honorable to immediately set about breaking up your best friend's wedding, now is it? But, of course, it takes Hannah's engagement to Colin to force Tom to realize that, actually, he's in love with Hannah, always has been, always will be, and cannot live knowing she's married to someone else.
Needless to say, isn't it?, that the bulk of the source of comedy in this romantic comedy comes from two sources: jokes about Tom being the Maid of Honor and things that Tom doesn't do right because he's a guy being the Maid of Honor. His fellow bridesmaids (if that's not a gender-biased expression of there ever was one) are Melissa (Busy Phillips) who hates him based on a prior relationship they had, Stephanie (Whitney Cummings) who works to be a peacemaker for Hannah's sake, and Hilary (Emily Nelson) who's on a crazy diet so she can fit in her size 8 dress, meet a Scotsman, and live the fairytale life like Hannah intends to do. Between these three trying to run things properly and Tom's pals trying to help him crack open Colin's weaknesses, there's plenty of misdirection afoot. None of it, however, is terribly funny or terribly tragic, it's all sort of just bland. Things don't start to heat up and get really interesting until just before the wedding in Scotland where Colin, who turns out to be Scottish royalty, and his family unleash their traditions on the unsuspecting Hannah and her family. This odd clash of cultures then, too, becomes some source of minor amusement though sometimes in a mean-spirited and ethnocentric way.
Does the film have a happy ending? The answer is definitely a matter of perspective and that illustrates one of the on-going problems with the film's main characters. Are they actually right for each other? Well, you can see the film and be the judge of that. Equally frustrating are the continued use of cardboard, mostly stereotypical characters in these sorts of films. You won't find that much difference between any of the characters in Made of Honor from those in 27 Dresses—in fact the films are sort of similar though the characters in 27 Dresses are a bit better while the story for Made of Honor is a bit better. Neither film advances the expectations for the genre much thereby giving forth a stale, repetitive, predictable sentiment. Not like the far, far better yet unsung P.S., I Love You which was light years ahead of both: partially because of the quality of the actors involved and partly because the story, simply stated, is vastly superior.
…well-intentioned romantic comedy low on comedy and a tad low on romance…
Patrick Dempsey is adequate to the task of this barely three-dimensional character of Tom. He doesn't give it more that the role requires of him. Meanwhile, Michelle Monaghan whose agents are working overtime continues to get roles which are great women, but not necessarily in great films—the prime example of this was her role in the Ben Stiller flop
The Heartbreak Kid. She's absolutely perfect and dreamy in every way, strong, determined, talented, gorgeous in a non-fake way, but give her a great script somebody please. Bottom line, Made of Honor mostly is a well-intentioned romantic comedy low on comedy and a tad low on romance that probably won't have much staying power despite a lack of films in this genre until next fall.
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Cast Members
Patrick Dempsey • Michelle Monaghan • Kevin McKidd
Kadeem Hardison • Chris Messina • Richmond Arquette
Busy Philipps • Whitney Cummings • Emily Nelson
Kathleen Quinlan • Kevin Sussman • Sydney Pollack
Director
Paul Weiland
Writers
Adam Sztykiel • Deborah Kaplan • Harry Elfont
Review-lite
Made of Honor (2008) [max of 150 words]
This bland, predictable, romantic comedy lacks breathtaking romance and wise comedy leaving Made of Honor viewers wondering if it might better have been called Made of Mush. Hardly distinguishable from 27 Dresses, the film lacks the punch and freshness of P.S., I Love You—the best romantic comedy of the last 5 years. Michelle Monaghan and Patrick Dempsey portray the best friends turned bride-to-be and Maid of Honor who discover through her Scottish fiancée's Scottish traditions that maybe they really are meant for each other. The supporting cast does its best to keep this lifeless film alive amidst an obvious and predictable journey to the only logical conclusion. Director Paul Weiland makes the movie look good and occasionally fun, but it's all a façade for a redundant, recycled, derivative film.
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