The Quadrangle

Issue date: 2/23/05 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Every year around Valentine's Day, numerous romantic comedies are released to theaters. This year Wedding Date was one of those films. Sadly, however, it did not live up to what some may consider a quality romantic comedy. Movies like When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and Pretty Woman are the movies that we hope all "chick flicks" can resemble.

Wedding Date cannot be ranked in with those movies however. The storyline is simple. Kat (Debra Messing) is a woman who must go to England to her sister's wedding. The groom's best man however is her ex-fiancé who broke off their wedding without giving a reason at the time. Kat pays an escort named Nick (Dermot Mulroney) $6,000 to pretend to be her boyfriend for the wedding. Obviously, she is a nervous about having a professional escort being her boyfriend and thus comedy ensues. Also, dealings with her ex-fiancé and family cause some interesting events.

This movie had the potential to be a great romantic comedy. Certain aspects of the plot caused the audience to wonder, what were the writers thinking? For example, during the film, the audience is told that Nick went to Brown University and majored in Literature-an escort that went to an Ivy League school and is extraordinarily intelligent? Of course, everyone knows that in romantic comedies, the actors end up together, and this is not a surprise. Nick, one of the most sought after escorts just happens to fall in love with this woman who has recently had some very bad relationship problems. Why yes, it would not be the movie if this did not happen, however, everything fit a little too nicely. While Nick should not be an idiot, the movie is a too similar to a fairy tale by making him too perfect. Even Vivian was a high school drop out in Pretty Woman. While overall, the plot of the film was disappointing, there was one aspect that was refreshing. When an ex-fiancé is in a romantic comedy, it is expected that the person wants the main character back. This is where Wedding Date diverges from the typical. This made the story a little different from the typical "chick flick".

This movie is Debra Messing's first major starring role. If this was her attempt to distance herself from Will and Grace, she failed miserably. Kat and Grace are not very different characters. Grace is much more neurotic, but other than that, they are alike. If Messing wants to make a solid film career, she needs to take parts that differ greatly from the role for which she is famous. Jennifer Aniston was able to do this in movies like Along Came Polly. Messing gave a fine performance, but she did not need to stretch too far from her normal performance she is used to giving.

Dermot Mulroney was perfect as the sex object in the movie. Smart, sexy, and in touch with his emotions, Nick is the perfect man and Mulroney played it perfectly. A less stereotypical character would have been better for him to work with, but he did a satisfactory job with what he was given.

The directing and cinematography was well done for this movie as well. There was no attempt to go above and beyond what it wanted to be. A safe approach was given to this movie. Overall, this was a good film. The only thing lacking was the writing. A less stereotypical approach to the writing would have made it a funny, quality romantic comedy. It was still cute in its own right. This movie is not suggested for the theater; however it is a definite rental.

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