Made of Honor | Christian Toto saw | ENTERTAINMENT
Made of Honor
May/03/08 01:05 AM Filed in: Christian Toto
saw
But while Dempsey is as dashing here as he is on the small screen, the real star is his leading lady, Michelle Monaghan.
In "Made of Honor," Dempsey stars as Tom, a rich, successful ladies man who dates so many women he follows a strict set of rules to keep them all emotionally at arm's length.
No such rules dictate his relationship with Hannah (Monaghan) his best friend for the past decade. They seem perfect for each other, and we get the sense she sees Tom as more than just a friend. But Tom only thinks of her as a platonic pal.
When Hannah leaves for a six-week work trip Tom is left to re-evaluate his feelings for her. Suddenly, all the stunning, shapely women in his life appear shallow compared to Hannah.
Could he be in love with her all this time without knowing it?
But before he can tell her his feelings, she returns home with a fiance in tow. Colin (Kevin McKidd) looks like he walked out of a romance novel. He's brutally handsome, charming and, if that wasn't enough, Scottish royalty.
Hannah picks Tom to be the Maid of Honor at their wedding.
Like Roberts' character in "My Best Friend's Wedding," Tom is forced to juggle his duties as Hannah's closest friend with his feelings for her.
Tom's buddies try to offer him advice during their regular basketball games, but no one but Tom can figure out the right way to tell Hannah he loves her - or if he should let her follow her heart to Colin.
Naturally, he stalls long enough for a ham-fisted finale which will leave some audience members with a bitter aftertaste.
"Made of Honor" steals some of its mojo from "My Best Friend's Wedding," but it's also beholden to the modern romantic comedy template. You won't find many surprises here, but that doesn't matter when Dempsey and Monaghan are sharing the screen. They look great together, and they're such a natural couple it's easy to root for their possible romance.
"Made of Honor" sneaks in just the right amount of humor to make the film's gimmick tolerable. One of Hannah's bridesmaids used to date Tom, and her hostility toward him provides some hilarious slow burns. Far less effective is a running gag about a bridesmaid trying to lose weight for the wedding. The humor here is more cruel than cunning, and the nasty tone doesn't jibe with the rest of the movie.
The same might be said for Tom's father, a serial monogamist working on his sixth marriage. But the character is played by Sydney Pollack, the directorial great turned character actor. He makes his lecherous behavior almost endearing.
Dempsey fulfills his contractual obligations here, doffing his shirt on more than one occasion and looking, well, dreamy in a series of well-coordinated suits. He just can't radiate quite like his brunette co-star, who might duke it out with "27 Dresses'" Katherine Heigl for the title of Best Rom-Com Actress.
"Made of Honor"
Sony Pictures
Three Donne mandalas out of five
Web site: www.sonypictures.com/movies/madeofhonor/
— Christian Toto
