Messing and Mulroney shine in…The Wedding Date

Author's Rating:

Pros: Messing, Mulroney, Davenport, beautiful scenery

Cons: predictable story

The Bottom Line: 
Cute story.

Author's Review
I rented this movie because I thought it would be one of those silly romantic movies that my mother enjoys. I suffer through them now and again so that she gets to see them, because she won’t rent them on her own. I have to say that I was entertained by The Wedding Date and while it was a little silly at times, it was an enjoyable movie.

Debra Messing… Kat
Dermot Mulroney… Nick
Amy Adams… Amy
Jack Davenport… Edward Fletcher-Wooden
Sarah Parish… TJ
Jeremy Sheffield… Jeffrey
Peter Egan… Victor
Holland Taylor… Bunny

Amy Ellis is getting married. This leaves sister, Kat Ellis, having to find her date through advertisements because she doesn’t want to go home without a boyfriend. She hires Nick Mercer and sends him a plane ticket through the courier. He promises her that her family will believe that they were made for each other and they will make her ex-fiancée very jealous. It seems that her ex-fiancée, Jeffrey, is the groom’s best man. Apparently Nick and his “services” are widely acclaimed and he is good at what he does.

Kat arrives at the airport in a complete frenzy about meeting her “date” on the plane to London. It doesn’t help that her employer, Virgin Atlantic, is having a few problems and she is forced to work to appease a few customers before boarding her own plane. Finally, she heads to the plane to board, worried that Nick will not look good enough. But no worries after taking one good look at him. They make it to London by morning; she awakes looking a wreck while he looks as good as ever.

Close your eyes. Close your eyes. Close... your... eyes. You're safe. You can relax. I'm not going to kiss you. He's gonna be so sorry he lost you, so stop worrying. Forget the past. Forget the pain. And remember what an incredible woman you are. You do that and he'll realize what he lost.… Nick
Holy crap. You're worth every penny.… Kat

Things go exactly how Kat believed they would when they arrive at the engagement party. Her family is just plain crazy and she warns Nick about them beforehand. Kat’s mother, Bunny, has no shame with making fun of Kat’s break-up with Jeffrey in front of everyone at the party. Her cousin, TJ, is brash and funny. Amy is a self-centered, blonde, younger version of her stepsister. Edward is her blushing groom. Nick seems to take everything in stride. When Kat runs into Jeremy at the party, he seems actually happy to see her.

Can you believe Kat gets to shag this guy? No, really, you should send God a bottle of wine or a quiche or something.… T.J.

Later that night, Bunny puts Kat and Nick in her old room at the house, much to Kat’s consternation. Of course, Nick has no shame and has no problem walking around nude in front of Kat. She of course is the prude one. She is shocked to see him naked (just the butt ladies), but also cannot help herself from looking. The next day, a competition begins between Nick and Jeffrey on the cricket field. At the bachelorette party that night, Kat and the rest of the girls get extremely drunk. She goes home after the party, drags Nick out of bed and down to her father’s boat in the driveway and they get it on.

She wakes up in the morning and doesn’t remember what happened, thanks to the alcohol and Nicks leaving the boat before she awoke. He finds himself disappointed.

The hardest thing is loving someone and then having the courage to let them love you back.… Nick

Will Kat remember what happened? Will she succeed in making Jeffrey jealous? Or will something totally different happen? What kind of secrets does this family hold?

The Wedding Date is definitely a romantic movie, but it’s also touted to be a comedy. There was a lot of romance, but of course nothing hard-core. And the comedy definitely exists, although it’s not totally a comedy movie. But because the plot is so straightforward, except for a little twist at the end, the movie has just been labeled a romantic comedy.

You get nothing here that you have yet to see in other movies of this type, except for a little better acting. There are a few things that could have been developed more in the movie to help the overall plot, but overall the story was well-written. The scenery and music seem to also fit well with what’s going on throughout the movie.

Debra Messing has become one of my favorite actresses. While I do think Will & Grace has been on the air for a long time and should think about leaving now while it’s ahead, I do love the show and try to catch it when I can. Messing plays the independent career woman who has a slight self-esteem problem with apparent ease. She can act like a spaz at times and her acting ability shines in this movie.

Dermot Mulroney is an excellent pick to play the suave and non-arrogant, yet self-assured male escort. The guy is definitely handsome, yet in an offbeat sort of way that makes him perfect for his role here. He’s good, and he knows that he is good. The thing about his character is that he is smart, so why is he selling himself to women instead of having a more reputable occupation? Both Messing and Mulroney are what make this movie succeed despite the well-worn and sometimes silly plot.

Amy Adams is good as the lush stepsister, but nothing to write home about. She was quirky and flighty most of the time. Jack Davenport hails from one of my favorite comedy series Coupling and I just went into the movie expecting him to be really funny. While he did have a few funny lines, this movie just didn’t support the humor that I’m used to seeing from him, but that’s not his fault at all. His performance did not disappoint me.

Sarah Parrish as the cousin T.J. was just hilarious. She was brash and had no self-control when it came to what was coming out of her mouth; she made the scenes that she was in more funny by her quirky comments. Her character was a great addition to the movie. Jeremy Sheffield as the ex-fiancée had kind of a background role until the end of the movie…he was in a lot of scenes and talked about a lot, but the plot didn’t really open up for him until the end.

The Wedding Date is based on the book Asking For Trouble by Elizabeth Young. There were a few bonus features available on this DVD: deleted scenes, “A Date with Debra”, and feature commentary with Debra Messing. Subtitles include English and Spanish versions. Languages include English 5.1, Spanish 5.1, and Captioned for the hearing impaired. Previews includes one’s for The Interpreter and Cinderella Man.

Overall, this was a light-hearted romantic comedy and I was entertained. While it’s definitely not perfect, it was a better than a few other movies of this genre that have been released lately. You aren’t going to get anything really deep here. The Wedding Date is meant to be a lighthearted, fun movie and that’s what you really get. Guys be warned though, The Wedding Date can definitely be labeled a “chick flick”. It’s definitely one to watch a few times and maybe add to your DVD collection if you enjoy this genre. I’m not usually a romantic movie kind of girl, but I did enjoy this movie.


Release Date: 2005
Genre: Romance, Comedy
Director: Clare Kilner
Writer: Dana Fox
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rated: PG-13


~ Happy Watching!

Kim

Let’s get romantic…
Breakfast At Tiffany’s ~ Along Came Polly ~ Nine Months ~ Sweet Home Alabama ~ How To Loose A Guy In 10 Days ~ The Wedding Planner ~ My Big Fat Greek Wedding