Made of Honor – on HD (2008). Laugh if you will… but the real reason why I picked up Made of Honor – a chick flick starring Patrick ‘McDreamy’ Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan – is because it was going for dirt-cheap on Blu-ray.
Dempsey plays Tom Bailey, a Don Juan and conqueror of women virtue. His best friend is Hannah, played by starry-eyed Michelle Monaghan, whom he met in a chance encounter at college while trying to bed her roommate.
Tom doesn’t realize the real depth of his feelings for Hannah – which so far have always seem platonic – until the latter takes off to Scotland in a business trip. Tom misses her when she’s away and only then does he realize that he’s in love with her. He intends to let Hannah know when she comes back… only that she returns engaged to a young Scottish nobleman, Colin, played for laughs by Kevin McKidd. Spurred on by his well-intentioned brotherly buddies, he tries to sabotage their coming marriage by trying to dig up dirt on Colin.
From the onset, the film is sort of like My Best Friend’s Wedding, if from a guy’s point of view this time. The premise has been done before, and the film itself plays it terrifically safe too. At the expense of spoiling Made of Honor for those who haven’t seen it, the film sticks to the tried-and-true if formulaic story arcs of setup, conflict then happy resolution.
So why would you want to watch this film then knowing full well how it’s going to turn out? Well, for the two actors. I imagine women viewers would watch this for Dempsey, and for us guys, the lovely Monaghan. The two have great chemistry onscreen that’s driven by their lively banter, and it’s refreshing to watch a character like Hannah who despite possessing full awareness of Tom’s liaisons, never seeks to judge him.
There’s humor to be had too, though not all of it work. The slapstick bits (e.g. of Tom in a restaurant) don’t, but the ones involving him comparing himself to Colin absolutely do. The latter is a paragon of virtue, a quick learner and not just physically imposing in height (there’s a hilarious scene involving ‘equipment’ sizes in the bath).
There’s also a subplot sandwiched in the film about Hannah’s three bridesmaids, one of whom was dumped by Tom himself after a fling. That didn’t work well and felt as though time spent in those scenes should had been put back towards the real star of the film – the relationship between Tom and Hannah. As a bonus, you also get lovely camera pans of the highlands – enough to have made Ling want to tour Scotland.:)
So, not perfect. Saddled with a not very surprising story, but saved by two attractive leads. It’s not quite near my favorite group of romantic flicks – which still comprise just Sleepless in Seattle, The American President and Just Like Heaven – but still a pleasant way to spend 101 minutes of your time.
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