If you've seen "Runaway Bride," My Best Friend's Wedding," "In Her Shoes" and/or "While You Were Sleeping," then there's really no point in seeing this newest romantic comedy, "27 Dresses," starring Katherine Heigl ("The Ringer," "Knocked Up," the TV series "Grey's Anatomy").
Bits and pieces of all the aforementioned films - as well as a few I have omitted - are culled to cobble together this tale of Jane (Heigl), sweet, innocent, long-suffering and a patsy. The term "always-the-bridesmaid" has never been more appropriate, as she has 27 ugly bridesmaids' dresses (hence the title) in her closet - one for every cheesy theme wedding she has attended.
Jane works for George (Edward Burns, "One Missed Call"), an environmentally-friendly, but hopelessly-naive boss who seems to be the only one in the office (or in the City of New York, for that matter), who cannot tell that Jane is totally in love with him.
Unfortunately, for this fledgling love affair, Jane's pretty, but self-centered sister, Tess (Malin Akerman, "The Heartbreak Kid," The Brothers Solomon"), enters the picture and sweeps George off his goofy feet.
While all of this is going on, Jane is practically being stalked by Kevin (James Marsden, "Superman Returns," the "X-Men" films), a wedding writer for a large New York publication. Assigned to cover Tess and George's nuptials (for SOME reason), he instead turns his attention to Jane and the fact she has been a bridesmaid 27 times.
When all of these situations collide, we're supposed to be amused, but I was just bored, having seen this plot (or variations of this plot) many times before.
Katherine Heigl is certainly a beautiful actress, and her Jane is very sweet and pure here, but she is not a strong enough lead to carry even this lightweight premise. She's no Julia Roberts; she's no Cameron Diaz; she's not even a Sandra Bullock.
Playing opposite comedians such as Johnny Knoxville and Seth Rogan was fine - since she was more of a supporting character - but here, she is the main cog of the movie, and it's a bit too much for her. There are some scenes in which she is just there to look sad or hurt or angry or rejected, and not an integral part of the action.
I also thought the love affair was forced upon us because it was expected. A twist at the conclusion would have been nice. Still overall, the movie is harmless and inoffensive, and will bring out all of the women (and many of their dates) who do not want to see "Cloverfield" at the cinaplexes over the next few weeks.