Tulips, daffodils and a wedding movie. It must be Spring, huh? And they don’t come much springier than this fluffy, formulaic romantic comedy with its poofy gowns, pop music montages and a honey of a leading lady.
Aline Brosh McKenna, who wrote the screenplay adaptation for The Devil Wears Prada, turns this original work into a pastiche of scads of wedding-centric pictures, complete with the wisecracking bosom buddy (Judy Greer) and the fairy-tale sensibility. Whenever the plotting flags, choreographer-turned-director Fletcher whips up a montage. Cue a jolly flash through the ceremonies where Jane wore all those weird maid of honour get-ups - from a cowboy-themed affair on horseback to underwater nuptials - which beg certain questions. Like how does she even know all these goofy people with such bad taste? And where are they now? There’s also the scene where a bar full of people join in with Jane and Kevin’s spirited drunken stylings, here of Benny And The Jets (which, by the way, practically duplicates a classic incident in US sitcom 3rd Rock From The Sun in which Dick, Mary and a bunch of diner customers performed Oklahoma).
But for those who love a wacky wedding wheeze the performances are great fun, particularly from the two leads. Heigl carries this off endearingly, while Marsden, who got this leading man shot on the strength of his performance in Hairspray, is adorable. So adorable, in fact, that it’s impossible to grasp why Jane spends so much of the running time fending him off. It also might have been more interesting if the absurdly spoiled younger sister (Canadian model Akerman) weren’t a selfish, lying witch. There’s only room for one deserving bride in this particular taffeta ghetto.
