Made of Honor (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
Haven't we already had My Best Friend's Wedding? In this film, 'Made of Honor' directed by Paul Weiland, it is Tom (Patrick Dempsey), a man, not a woman, who will try to stop his best friend, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) from marrying someone else. He couldn't have picked a worse time to realize that he's in love with his best pal. It took her wedding announcement to kick-start his true feelings. But will it be too late to sway her from her hunky fiancee, Colin? Yadayada. This film starts out strong, but plummets into a cinematic swamp of unfunny, cliched circumstances. What a bummer.
As mentioned, the movie starts quite well as we meet our sprite, young protagonists in College. The film then picks up 10 yrs. later where Tom & Hannah are platonic best friends. Tom is rich, self-absorbed, & constantly dating. Luckily for him, the only rock in his life IS Hannah. But after she comes back from a 6-week business trip to Scotland, he's horrified to find out: not only is she engaged, but she wants HIM to be her maid of honor! Oh, the horror. The only reason Tom agrees is so that he can quietly sabotage the wedding, and coincidingly win her over for himself.
That will be a tough task as Hannah's bloke (Kevin McKidd) is seemingly ... the perfect man. He's tall, blond, blue-eyed, muscular, mannerly, and ... oh yeah, filthy rich (owning several castles in Scotland). Other obstacles for Tom? Having to deal with Hannah's 3 finicky bridesmaids; one of them being a burned ex-girlfriend of his. She's ruthless towards him (really, I don't blame her). But that's just it. The 1st 20 min. of the film are really cute. Later on, there's a GREAT lip lock btwn. Tom & Hannah in a Scottish pub. But other than these 2 instances, it's impossible to like the film because Tom himself is unlikeable.
Tom assumes Hannah will be there for his every beck & call. He knows he's hot. He knows he's successful. He gloats to his basketball buddies about his sexual escapades. But it's not just unlikeable Tom that frustrates me, it's the plot & its so-called humor that makes me cringe. 'Made of Honor' lacks energy & originality. It took 3 screenwriters to create such recycled rom-com gags involving: anal beads, taxidermy/deer, homophobia, even jokes about people's accents (a character says 'Athol', a Scottish name, & 2 min. is devoted to Hannah thinking she's saying 'asshole'). I mean, come on now.
Do we want Tom & Hannah to be together? Well, it depends on the viewer. In this film, I would have to think most viewers wouldn't care, at all. Tom is attractive, but smarmy. Hannah is cute; but has her heads in the freaking clouds for every situation that arises in this paper thin plot. There isn't enough time spent with the 2 of them to even convince US that they belong together. No one here is multidimensional (most negligent is Colin, reduced to a handful of speaking lines). No ... 'Made of Honor' is just a cheesy, predictable, annoying, and annoyingly tepid 'comedy'. It starts with fervor; but is wholly disappointing in the end.
As mentioned, the movie starts quite well as we meet our sprite, young protagonists in College. The film then picks up 10 yrs. later where Tom & Hannah are platonic best friends. Tom is rich, self-absorbed, & constantly dating. Luckily for him, the only rock in his life IS Hannah. But after she comes back from a 6-week business trip to Scotland, he's horrified to find out: not only is she engaged, but she wants HIM to be her maid of honor! Oh, the horror. The only reason Tom agrees is so that he can quietly sabotage the wedding, and coincidingly win her over for himself.
That will be a tough task as Hannah's bloke (Kevin McKidd) is seemingly ... the perfect man. He's tall, blond, blue-eyed, muscular, mannerly, and ... oh yeah, filthy rich (owning several castles in Scotland). Other obstacles for Tom? Having to deal with Hannah's 3 finicky bridesmaids; one of them being a burned ex-girlfriend of his. She's ruthless towards him (really, I don't blame her). But that's just it. The 1st 20 min. of the film are really cute. Later on, there's a GREAT lip lock btwn. Tom & Hannah in a Scottish pub. But other than these 2 instances, it's impossible to like the film because Tom himself is unlikeable.
Tom assumes Hannah will be there for his every beck & call. He knows he's hot. He knows he's successful. He gloats to his basketball buddies about his sexual escapades. But it's not just unlikeable Tom that frustrates me, it's the plot & its so-called humor that makes me cringe. 'Made of Honor' lacks energy & originality. It took 3 screenwriters to create such recycled rom-com gags involving: anal beads, taxidermy/deer, homophobia, even jokes about people's accents (a character says 'Athol', a Scottish name, & 2 min. is devoted to Hannah thinking she's saying 'asshole'). I mean, come on now.
Do we want Tom & Hannah to be together? Well, it depends on the viewer. In this film, I would have to think most viewers wouldn't care, at all. Tom is attractive, but smarmy. Hannah is cute; but has her heads in the freaking clouds for every situation that arises in this paper thin plot. There isn't enough time spent with the 2 of them to even convince US that they belong together. No one here is multidimensional (most negligent is Colin, reduced to a handful of speaking lines). No ... 'Made of Honor' is just a cheesy, predictable, annoying, and annoyingly tepid 'comedy'. It starts with fervor; but is wholly disappointing in the end.