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The Wedding Date By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- In the insipid romantic comedy "The Wedding Date" (Universal), a desperate New York woman learns that, while you can't necessarily buy love, you can rent it for a few days -- at a price. The movie is about the pitfalls of pretending to be something you're not, and of confusing surface illusion for reality -- which is exactly what this low-wattage love story is guilty of doing. On the surface, the movie pretends to be this year's "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" or "My Best Friend's Wedding." But apart from English locations, culture-clash jokes, a dysfunctional family, Dermot Mulroney and an erotic ice sculpture, the only thing this witless and watery effort by Brit director Clare Kilner has in common with those sharply written films is the word "wedding" in its title. The picture's tag line states, "Love doesn't come cheap." But the laughs do, when they come at all. Debra Messing (the Grace half of TV's "Will & Grace") plays Kat Ellis, a slightly neurotic Manhattanite who is still recovering from being inexplicably dumped by her caddish British ex-fiance, Jeffrey (Jeremy Shields). Kat is preparing to leave for her parents' home in London, to join self-absorbed half-sister Amy's (Amy Adams) wedding party. Amy is marrying nice but slightly aloof Edward (Jack Davenport), whose best man just happens to be Kat's former flame, Jeffrey. Partly to save face and partly to make Jeffrey jealous, Kat hires Nick, a professional "male escort" (played by the handsome but blandly vanilla Mulroney), to pose as her new boyfriend. But like Richard Gere in "Pretty Woman," what Kat is buying is arm candy -- man-as-accessory -- she is not in the market for romance, at least not initially. Once across the pond, Nick proves a good, albeit perhaps ethically dubious, investment as he charms Kat's family, including her man-hungry cousin (Sarah Parish). When Kat's stepdad (Peter Egan) asks her where she found the dashing Yank, she responds -- only half-jokingly -- "in the Yellow Pages." Over the course of the days leading up to the wedding, emotional complications arise, trusts are betrayed, cricket is played, mascara is smeared and true love is declared. Messing displays a competency for comic timing, though, like many actors who try to make the leap from small- to big-screen success, she seems stuck in sitcom mode. As for her chemistry with Mulroney, the two generate about as many sparks as a soggy book of matches left out overnight in the damp English air. This lackluster and laugh-light "Wedding" is not worth attending. The film contains a sexual encounter, a shower scene involving fleeting rear nudity, as well as recurring crude sexual language and humor. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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