Reviewed by Cassam Looch
Stars Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd,
Sydney Pollack, Kadeem Hardison, Chris Messina,
Richmond Arquette, Busy Philipps, Kathleen Quinlan
Written by Adam Sztykiel & Deborah Kaplan
Certification UK 12A | US PG-13
Runtime 101 minutes
Directed by Paul Weiland
Another week another by the numbers rom-com from Hollywood. If anything ‘Made of Honour’ is even more predictable than some of the other recent efforts, and yet it’s got an affable charm which makes it utterly watchable.
Millionaire Tom (Dempsey) lives the perfect life. Girls, cars and a completely self-serving set of rules mean that his only real attachment is to his best friend Hannah (Monaghan). Their platonic relationship has been a crutch for both of them for the past 10 years, but when Hannah falls in love with Colin (McKidd) while on a business trip to Scotland, Tom realises he has fallen for her himself. Desperate to stop the wedding and tell Hannah how he really feels, he accepts the role of ‘Maid of Honour’ for the upcoming wedding and works from the inside. Unable to tell Hannah sooner, they end up going for the elaborate ceremony in Scotland, but is it too late for Tom?
Well if you can’t answer the last question then you’re probably Jade Goody. For the rest of us, we know exactly what’s going to happen, and this would normally prove to be an insurmountable obstacle to enjoying any film. But because the two leads have a unique chemistry on screen, even the most jaded viewer will be willing the couple to get together. The friendship between them is completely believable, with one then the other having romantic feelings but unable to tell anyone.
The slapstick elements of the script don’t really draw in the big laughs you would expect, and it’s the skill of Dempsey that prevent these sequences from being cringe-worthy. He is perfectly cast in the role of playboy Tom, and should now get the crack at big-screen success his recent high profile on television has warranted. Monaghan is also a pleasant surprise, and has excellent comic timing as well as the ability to emote that has been lacking in these sort of films since the days of (early) Meg Ryan. So the film would have you believe that all Brits live in vast expanses of Countryside and have the roads all to themselves. And of course we’re all landed gentry avoiding heavy downpours and dim-witted farmers right? But you know what, it doesn’t really matter… this is fun and entertaining fare. What it lacks in originality it makes up for by putting a smile on your face.