Made of Honor (2008)

Made of Honor spells chick flick all over it, the perennial formulaic romantic comedy that tells its entire story in the trailer, but that's not going to stop couples from hitting the cinemas for their date movie flick, does it? What I thought was peculiar was that the original US rating for this was R, meaning a lot more sexual material thrown in, versus the now released PG-13 version which was re-edited, and over here, the rating of PG that allows for everyone to make a beeline if they want to escape from the week's blockbuster.

The plot's nothing new as well, with movies like My Best Friend's Wedding, and even from as far back as Three Men and a Little Lady where the best friend tries his/her very best to convince the bride/groom that their choice for eternal companionship, is of the wrong one, and of course, to make away with their respective selves to live happily ever after. And if you think the premise is a ludicrous one, where a man will take up the duties of a maid of honor, then Singapore perhaps just legitimized it with a wedding in a cinema last Tuesday, where indeed a male did grace the occasion of his best friend's wedding as her MOH.

For a man who doesn't seem to have a job and have a huge trust fund behind him, Patrick Dempsey shed his uptight role as a dad from his debut big screen outing with Enchanted, for a playboy called Tom who lives by certain rules in his dating game, and amongst them, no back to back sex with the same girl, no dates with the same girl unless it's a week apart, and never to call someone new in the next 24 hours, never bring them to weddings and family events, and the likes. Women find him irresistible (either for his looks or for that bank account), and he spares no time in getting to know them inside out. The ideal bachelor lifestyle I'd bet, with a constant flow of money, women, and good pals to shoot hoops with, none of them seemingly poor enough to hold down regular jobs.

However, he has his best friend and confidante in Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) with whom he spends his weekends with, and just when he discovers that he truly loves the girl, she drops the bombshell that she's going to marry a Scot whom she met during her business trip, and talking about whirlwind romances, will be getting married in 14 days. So the clock starts to tick in order for Tom to prove himself to be better than the groom-to-be Colin McMurray (Kevin McKidd), which is an uphill task as riches-for-riches they could be on par, but you just can't inject blue blood into you. While at the same time juggle his role as the maid of honor and going through the many girlie things that they're supposed to do for the bride.

While it is a formulaic story, what works, and so long as it does, this type of movies will forever be made, is the chemistry between the leads. You just can't deny that both Dempsey and Monaghan look good together on screen as a couple, and you can't help but find yourself rooting for them past their characters' stupidity to realize that they're made for each other, after 10 years of being together, with little clues left unanswered with questions such as "why do you like him" going unanswered. If only of course it were that easy in real life, that a romance can be wrapped up with Eureka-like moments of enlightenment within two hours.

Of course I must admit though with formula, it doesn't require anything cerebral from you as you sit through and (try to) enjoy the story in fantasy land. The eclectic soundtrack helped as well, with contemporary tunes taking centerstage and played at the right moments, from Smash Mouth's opening, to Oasis' Stop Crying Your Heart Out, when last I heard of it in a movie was in The Butterfly Effect. Supporting characters like Kathleen Quinlan and Sydney Pollack goes wasted of course.