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Made of Honor 6.5 out of 10 Posted: 08/15/08
Running time: 1:41 MPAA rating: PG-13 for sexual content and language. (Edited; originally Rated R for some sex-related material.) Peruvian rating: Mayores de 14
Cast:
Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd, Kadeem Hardison,
Busy Philipps, Kathleen Quinlan, Sydney Pollack.
Score:
Rupert Gregson-Williams |
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I don’t mind predictability in certain kinds of movies. As long as they are well-made and entertaining, it really doesn’t matter that you know how the film will end; what matters is what happens between the beginning and the ending. And although Made of Honor, being a romantic comedy, was obviously going to be predictable, there’s not much to be recommended about the journey towards the happy ending. I’m not saying this is a bad movie; for teenage girls and women in general, Made of Honor is the perfect movie: romantic and formulaic. (That might sound a bit sexist, but you’ve got to admit women love the romantic comedy formula. Even my girlfriend admits this: they don’t care if the film is predictable or not.) There’s enough chemistry between Patrick Dempsey and the beautiful Michelle Monaghan to believe in their potential romance, but there’s something missing in the movie. Maybe it’s the fact that, despite being a romantic comedy, it’s not funny at all. Granted, I laughed about three times during the film, but that’s barely enough. The problem with Made of Honor is not that it’s a bad movie; it’s that it’s a mediocre one.
The movie opens with a scene showing how the two protagonists, Tom (Dempsey), and Hannah (Monaghan) met during his senior year at college. Ten years later, they're best friends. Tom is quite a player, having slept with almost every woman in New York… except Hannah. The man’s got rules for his adventures to be successful, and tells his “love” stories to Hannah all the time. One day, though, Hannah leaves on a six-week trip to Scotland, leaving Tom by himself. While she's there, he realizes he actually loves her, and plans to tell her the moment she returns. Unfortunately, when she shows up in New York, she doesn’t come alone: she’s met someone, a Scottish guy named Colin (Kevin McKidd), who proposed to her. Obviously, she accepted, since the man seems to be almost perfect. She also decides to make Tom her "Maid" of Honor. Since his friends tell him that he would be more successful at destroying their marriage from the inside than from the outside, he accepts the offer.
Made of Honor is a pretty entertaining movie during its first fifty minutes or so. Yes, it is full of clichés during its first two thirds, but chemistry between the lead actors is so palpable and the film manages to grip you so much that you just don’t realize this. It is all really formulaic, of course, but it is presented in a fresh and light fashion that manages to make the viewer relate to the characters. Patrick Dempsey gives a pretty good performance, too. Considering his character is pretty much a jerk (sleeping with any woman he meets, totally ignoring the fact that his best friend is a beautiful girl, driving his car like a beast), the fact that the guy’s got so much charisma actually helps him. Yes, he is not perfect, but since this is Patrick Dempsey, one has a tendency to root for him. Michelle Monaghan is also pretty good. She’s sweet and beautiful, and plays the part of the loyal best friend to perfection. Actually, I believe she is an underrated actress – she is much prettier than the likes of, for example, Angelina Jolie (who looked eerily like Madonna in her latest film, Wanted) and knows how to make the viewer root for her, especially in a chick flick like this. Supporting performances are, for the most part, derivative, I’m afraid, the only highlight being the late Sidney Pollack. Pollack appear for what amounts to ten minutes, which is a total waste of his talent, but nevertheless provides with some class for the proceedings. It’s a pity his last performance had to be so small and, let’s be honest, unmemorable, though…
It’s when the film moves to Scotland that things start to go wrong. Firstly, although Kevin McKidd gives a decent performance as Colin, I would’ve wanted a little more depth to his character. He’s presented as an uptight perfect guy, which makes the viewer automatically root for Tom, which is unfair, because: a.) Tom is a jerk who only realized he loved Hannah when he started to lose her, and b.) Colin is quite a nice guy, really, how truly loved her from the moment he saw her. Additionally, the clichés present in the last half and hour or so of the film (such as Tom being discovered by Hannah as he was “accidentally” being kissed and “loved” by another girl, or Tom running to the wedding after he realized he couldn’t lose Hannah at the last moment) are more evident than ever, and ruin the experience because you know exactly what is going to happen and how the characters are going to react to the situations. It is because of this that the ending, while suitably happy, feels a little artificial.
The biggest flaw in Made of Honor, though, is the lack of comedy. Being a romantic comedy, the film is supposed to be both romantic and funny; Made of Honor is only the former. The supposed “comedic” moments are too few and far between, and generate little to no laughs. Consider, for the example, the scenes involving the traditional competition in Scotland. This sequence was obviously crafted to make the audience laugh, but it doesn’t manage to tickle the funny bone for one second. (Wow! He threw a log to a car! How amusing!) The only suitably humours moments occur early in the proceedings: the way the characters are introduced in college is both cute and funny, and Sidney Pollack’s first scene is effective in that it introduces his character in a light and comical way. After from that, though, the movie is pretty much devoid of humour, something that definitely makes it a little less enjoyable. The romance is fine, but the so-called “comedy” is less than stellar.
Ultimately, Made of Honor is a somehow enjoyable by-the-numbers romantic comedy due to the performances of its lead actors, and the chemistry between them. I don’t understand why three people were required to write the screenplay – it is so formulaic that it could have been written by anyone who had seen more than a couple romantic comedies. Although the romantic aspect of the film is quite successful (not because of the script, but because of the actors), its attempts at comedy are stale, and this is the main reason why the movie isn’t as entertaining as it should be. I don’t mind romantic comedies being clichéd and predictable – that’s part of the genre’s charm. What I do expect from them is a cute romantic story that manages to touch the viewer’s emotions, and comedy that, while not necessarily sophisticated (this isn’t a Woody Allen movie after all), manages to tickle the funny bone. Considering this, Made of Honor is a pedestrian, cookie-cuter romantic comedy, and only a partial success.
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©2008 Sebastián Zavala - Star Wars Epica |
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