Made of Honor

I remember it well. When Patrick Dempsey stepped into the interview room, neatly dressed in a black, smart casual suit, it was as if the air was suddenly electrified. I was supposed to interview Dempsey for the movie Enchanted, but all I could think about as he approached the table was, “OMG, he’s going to sit next to me!! Squee!!!”

It took a lot of iron will for me to be professional and not to melt into a puddle of goo when he smiled and greeted us journos, but Lord, he was so close, you know?

That’s Patrick Dempsey’s “it” factor, the effect he has on the ladies, no matter how rational we pride ourselves to be. Little wonder that he’s branching out into the romantic comedy/drama category. Girls wanna see more of that side of him. And movie moguls know that he has it in him to pull in the female demographic.

His recent offering, Made of Honor (or Honour, as it’s spelt in Malaysia), fits the bill, but is it any good? Here’s my review from the paper:

I am uncomfortable with movies where the main goal of the protagonist is to snatch away the bride/bridegroom. It just seems so … rude. But for Patrick Dempsey? Well, I’ll bend my standards a little.

McDreamy is a playboy with a gorgeous best friend. But like all men (just kidding!), he doesn’t see what a gem he has until the said gem goes to Scotland and snags herself a blue-blooded Scotsman with several castles and a fortune under his belt. So Tom Bailey says yes to Claire’s emasculating request to make him her maid of honour and flies to Scotland to win her heart.

Can the power and charisma of Mr McDreamy make this movie a surefire hit? Yes and no. Yes, because legions of females will see the movie despite what I say, and no, because, well, this movie is simply too formulaic to offer the viewer anything challenging.

Made of Honour is the cookie cutter chic flick that fulfils a woman’s fantasy on how they’d love to be wooed by Patrick Dempsey. To an extent it succeeds – who doesn’t want Dempsey to pursue you on horseback? And there are laughs to make the ride enjoyable enough (though some of them are a trite forced). But it’s just so ordinary, so fluffy when it should be filling. You keep wishing for the sweeping emotions generated by The Notebook or the fun-loving hilarity of the earlier Dempsey hit, Enchanted.

In the end, it’s a so-so flick that does its job well enough. But I’m sure Dempsey will return in another charming guise, hoping to woo another celluloid beauty. Let’s hope the next one will be better than this.

Well, my review may seem a tad harsh (you’ve not seen harsh yet!), but the thing is, it doesn’t matter. Because according to Box Office Mojo, Made of Honour earned a respectable $85mil worldwide. So, despite tepid reviews, the McDreamy magic is still chugging on.