Movie Notes: Made Of Honor

November 12th, 2008

= 2 stars

Starring Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd
Directed by Paul Weiland

Synopsis

Serial womanizer Tom (Patrick Dempsey) and nerdy Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) have been best friends since college. But just when Tom wonders if their relationship could be something more, Hannah becomes engaged to a Scottish duke and asks Tom to be her “maid of honor.”

The Good

• Monaghan plays Hannah as strong, likable and ultimately touching once she — albeit predictably — realizes Tom’s suppressed interest in her.

The Bad

• Plot wise, essentially a gender reversal of the far superior My Best Friend’s Wedding, with Patrick Dempsey playing the Julia Roberts role. As with that film, the un-heroic set-up is that for our hero to “win,” he must sabotage a wedding and make his true love unhappy. So we conflictingly root for and dread the protagonist’s success simultaneously.
• Patrick Dempsey is ultimately an unconvincing romantic lead, lapsing repeatedly into goofball mode (remember Loverboy?). Dr. “McDreamy” is rarely in evidence.
• The humor occasionally sinks to the crude and slapstick for no good reason (“thunderbeads?”, “Athol,” a “hanging” gym shower scene), suggesting a dearth of imagination in the screenwriting department.
• Satisfies my entire list of romantic movie cliches: check, check, check — complete with an unbelievable ending that only makes sense in regards to said romantic comedy conventions.

Conclusion

Barely passable as a rental. If you haven’t seen My Best Friend’s Wedding rent that one instead. Otherwise, skip it.

IMDB: Made Of Honor
Wikipedia: Made Of Honor
Rotten Tomatoes: Made Of Honor 12%