27 Dresses

How much do I love the movie 27 Dresses, you ask? So much that I saw it once in the theater, and now that it’s out on DVD for 3 days, I’ve watched it twice already, and I’d probably watch it again this weekend if the opportunity presented itself. And, since I rushed out and bought the DVD the day it was released…that opportunity might just rear its glorious head…you never know.

27 Dresses is the story of Jane…a girl who loves weddings so much that she’s found herself in the middle of no less than 27 of them…none of which were her own. She’s not only been the maid of honor or at least a bridesmaid in these weddings, but more often than not, she’s helped plan each of the events, being so intricately involved in each of them that in a way they are hers…right up to the moment when “Here Comes the Bride” begins, and she’s reminded that this is someone else’s day.

The movie opens on a night when Jane is a bridesmaid in two different weddings in the same night, following her back and forth between the two events. Jane makes sure to catch every important moment for two of her very best friends, including two doses of the Macarena. Her dedication to her role as bridesmaid cannot be questioned. Nobody seems to notice that Jane is working both weddings at once, except a writer named Kevin. After watching her jump in and out of a cab numerous times and immediately change clothes as the taxi drives away, he takes a marked interest in Jane. The two share a cab after both weddings are over, and when Jane leaves her date book on the floor of the back seat, Kevin keeps it, in order to learn more about her. Upon investigating, he realizes that she is fully immersed in weddings, and decides that he wants to do a story on her...(he writes the "Commitments" column in the paper, and Jane loves his stories...without knowing that it is him who writes them.) They develop a sort of love/hate relationship, as he is a cynic when it comes to marriage, and she works continually to prove to him that all things “wedding” are not to be frowned upon.

When she’s not “working the wedding circuit,” Jane is an assistant to George…a man she’s not so secretly in love with, but with whom she has never shared her true feelings. She is as dedicated to him as she is to the brides in her life, and she is positive that one day, he’ll come to realize that she is irreplaceable as more than just a work assistant.

Jane’s dreams are shattered, however, when her sister, Tess, comes to town for what is meant to be a visit, and George immediately takes an interest in her. Jane watches helplessly as Tess and George grow closer and closer, (due in part to Tess’ tendency to lie about all of the things that they have in common) and eventually is mortified when George proposes.

Jane not only has to deal with the fact that her sister is getting married to the man that she’s in love with, but also that she is expected to plan the perfect wedding for them. Jane is torn between wanting to take care of Tess, which she has always done since their mother died when they were children, and exposing “the real Tess” to George, who is a good man, and doesn’t deserve to be lied to. The only person who she can turn to in her time of need turns out to be Kevin, and eventually they find that they have more in common than they had originally thought.

I love this movie for so many reasons. I don’t want to go into the plot any further, because it’s a delight that I don’t want to ruin for you. But the movie makes me laugh and scowl, and smile and fall in love with love and everything in between. The characters are likeable, and the circumstances never seem over the top to me. Some of the dresses, though, cannot make such a claim…(the scene where Jane models all of her 27 dresses for a mortified Kevin is one of my favorites)…and I’ve vowed that when I finally get married myself, I will choose bridesmaid dresses that nobody will be humiliated to wear.