In the grand tradition of wedding movies with paper-thin plots, "The Wedding Date" is a sickly sweet piece of bubble gum better spit out - and fast. Audiences tired of the same old flavors won't find anything novel or satisfying in this clich?©d romantic comedy.
With superficial characters and a simple, unlikely story, it seems as if writer Dana Fox didn't take the time to develop it completely and thoroughly. With a running time of just 88 minutes, audiences are left wondering how or why certain events happened.
The premise of the movie is that Kat Ellis (Debra Messing) must fly over to London for her sister's wedding, where she will be forced to encounter the groom's best man, Jeff, her former fianc?© who dumped her after seven years together. Kat decides to hire a male escort named Nick (Dermot Mulroney) to go along with her and play the role of her new boyfriend, in order to avoid looking pathetic and single. For his work, Nick charges $6,000, with "sex being extra" - $1,700 extra.
The movie includes an appealing cast, which may be the only aspect driving audiences to the theaters. Debra Messing, star of NBC's "Will and Grace," does a nice job playing the self-deprecating character of Kat Ellis. A woman who is incredibly concerned with how others view her, Kat desperately needs to prove to her family and friends that she is doing fine even after the traumatizing breakup with her fianc?©.
And let's not forget Dermot Mulroney. Most remembered from his role in "My Best Friends Wedding" (1997), he's proven that his charm can make a rather sub-par romantic film worthy of watching. He plays the male escort, Nick, whose cool confidence wins the heart of Debra Messing's character.
Nick's confidence-building personality makes him "worth every penny," as Messing's character states breathlessly in response to his flirtation. And with lines like, "I think I'd miss you even if I'd never met you," who wouldn't fall in love?
That said, the movie seems to exhibit the fundamental components of a romantic comedy, but fails to coherently connect the elements. For example, after a wild night of revelry at the traditional bachelor and the bachelorette parties, Nick and Kat inexplicably, and suddenly, begin to fall for each other. There was no period of courtship showing the moments leading up to the relationship. If there is one thing an audience craves in a romantic comedy, it's the chase - the writer's omission of such a vital aspect to the genre is complete carelessness.
This is not the only hole in the plot. The emotions of the characters tend to change drastically, often without any impetus whatsoever.
Audience members are left with the question of why Nick would fall in love with a character like Kat, a disheveled mess who is quite possibly still in love with her ex-fianc?©, yet another undeveloped character. It seems very strange that the ex would reveal the fact that he was sleeping around with Kat's sister the day before she gets married. One might guess that he was trying to tell Kat he was still in love with her sister, but in the end, there was no evidence of that. This seems like a sad attempt to add drama to a floundering, frivolous film.
If you are looking for a light, romantic movie that doesn't make you think too much, you should still go see "The Wedding Date." Mulroney's charm and a few quirky romantic lines still have the power to make teenage girls in the front row say, "Awwwww ..."
