The Wedding Date ---- Starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney

Author's Rating:

Pros: Messing and Mulroney chemistry, cute-fun-endearing

Cons: a little short, some repetitive elements

The Bottom Line: 
A romantic comedy about a woman and the escort she brings with her to a family wedding is a winning combination here.

Author's Review
The Wedding Date was a 2005 theatrical release that didn't do quite as well as its backers had hoped. The best part though, was that having only spent $15 million on its production, it doubled that in the box office, and has really been a smash in rentals and sales of the DVD's. The reason that is has been so successful off-screen, could be due to the easy storyline that they have going for them. The Wedding Date boils down to Debra Messing's character needing a date for her step-sisters wedding, and she ends up going out to hire an escort for the affair. That escort is of course Dermot Mulroney, and the movie kicks off as they are heading off to the wedding.

There is not a whole lot of character development at the start of the film, and we aren't really shown what got these two people to their current situation, and I think it takes a little bit away from the story. I think that if they had gone a little more in-depth into the pasts of both characters, and given us a starting point that it could have made the film a lot better, but I guess in the end it didn't take too much away from what they were trying to accomplish here. And when I say accomplish, I mean what type of film they were trying to present the audience. Kat and Nick (Messing and Mulroney), have an instant on-screen chemistry, and it was a lot of fun seeing them together. From the moment they shared the screen, it seemed like there were some sparks between them, and it ended up making the film that much stronger.

As I said, the movie is all about a few days leading up to the wedding of her step-sister. The twist, is that she is getting married to the brother of her ex-fiance. This is where a lot of the humor and drama of the movie come in to play, and though it seems from the outside to be something that has been done before, they are actually able to get away with a lot because of the "cuteness" factor in the story. Debra Messing has a character that is impossible not to love. She has been through some tough times, and now feels that the only way she can make her family happy is to impress them with a new man. This man is to represent her having been able to move on, and a tool with which to make her ex jealous at the same time. Of course the best laid plans of romantic comedies often get unraveled and this film isn't going to be any different.

Messing and Mulroney are really good in their roles, and they carry a movie that ended up being on the short end (less than 90 minutes). So, if it isn't your type of film, it does fly by, and there are so many great moments in the movie, that you won't feel like you wasted time on it. It is cute, it is romantic, and in the end it is one of those fun movies that you can just spend some time watching, and move on with your life afterwards. There are however, some really great quotes that will stick with you long after the credits have run. If you are interested in reading those before you see the film, check out my comments section. The Wedding Date is one of those harmless films that is great to watch with a boyfriend/girlfriend, and I highly recommend it to that set. Because it is better than average, I give it 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4.




This is an entry in Lean-n-mean IV being hosted by Sleeper54.