‘MADE OF HONOR’ * 1/2
Patrick Dempsey has a lot going for him, including an interestingly distracted quality, as if he can’t stop thinking about his patients even when he’s not playing a doctor. Yet his success at this point remains slightly ahead of his skill set. Like a lot of medium-talented folks he’s primarily lucky. He’s McDreamy on “Grey’s Anatomy” (never hurts, of course, when screenwriters go out of their way to have characters refer to someone as “McDreamy,” over and over), and he offered solid back-court assistance in last year’s hit “Enchanted.” Now Dempsey stars in a wedding-centric romantic comedy called “27 Dresses.” Sorry, “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” Sorry, “Made of Honor.” That’s it. “Made of Honor.”
In British director Paul Weiland’s film, Dempsey plays Tom, a monstrously rich and successful entrepreneur (he invented the coffee sleeve) who has it all. Bantamweight, arm’s-length relationships by the score; basketball with the guys; Manhattan at his feet; a best friend, Hannah, played by Michelle Monaghan, who understands him for the easygoing Barcalounger he is.
Hannah sees in Tom the potential for so much more, a more giving heart, a less guarded soul, etc., etc. Midway through the grimly calculated whirrings of this screenwriting software disguised as a film, Tom realizes he wants to marry the woman who can make him the best possible Mr. Man. When his BFF threatens to walk down the aisle with her newfound Scottish sweetheart, played by Kevin McKidd of TV’s “Rome,” it’s clear to our hero that he must “destroy the wedding from within,” much as Julia Roberts schemed in “My Best Friend’s Wedding.”
In that picture, at least, you had a wily, semi-unsympathetic weasel running the show and scoring a few laughs. In “Made of Honor,” Tom’s a bland smoothie with money. He’s not a comic engine. At best he’s a dashboard. Certain formula-driven romantic comedies reach a point where the audience realizes it won’t be much fun watching the main character get his way. Nor will it be much fun watching him get his comeuppance. This is not where you want your audience.
Dempsey’s pleasant enough, but he hasn’t yet learned how to play against a mediocre script’s obviousness. Monaghan has, which is gratifying. (She single-handedly got me through the “Heartbreak Kid” remake alive.) Her character gets all the sympathy in “Made of Honor,” but the actress’ sandpapery voice and unconventional good looks put her one step closer to the majors than Dempsey. Millions of McDreamers may disagree. All the same, by the time “Made of Honor” moved to Scotland, my head was so full of other, better romances with a highland destination — everything from the marvelous “I Know Where I’m Going!” (1945) to “Four Weddings and a Funeral” (1994) — I could barely focus on “27 Dresses.” Sorry, “My Best Friend’s Wedding.” Sorry, “Made of Honor.”
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MPAA rating: PG-13 (for sexual content and language).
Running time: 1:41.
Opening: Friday.
Starring: Patrick Dempsey (Tom); Michelle Monaghan (Hannah); Colin (Kevin McKidd); Kathleen Quinlan (Joan); Sydney Pollack (Thomas Sr.).
Directed by: Paul Weiland; written by Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont; photographed by Tony Pierce-Roberts; edited by Richard Marks; music by Rupert Gregson-Williams; production design by Kalina Ivanov; produced by Neal H. Moritz. A Columbia Pictures release.
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mjphillips@tribune.com
