The Wedding Date

Release Date: February 4, 2005
Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Clare Kilner
Screenwriter: Dana Fox
Starring: Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, Amy Adams, Peter Egan, Holland Taylor
Genre: Comedy, Romance
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for sexual content including dialogue)
Official Website: TheWeddingDate.net

Plot Summary: In this sparkling romantic comedy, Debra Messing plays Kat, a never-married New Yorker, who is invited to her parents' London home for her younger sister's wedding. What should be a joyous occasion bodes disaster for Kat, however, when she discovers that the best man will be none other than her ex-fiancé, who, two years before, inexplicably dumped her. In a desperate attempt to face the ordeal with dignity, Kat hires Nick (Dermot Mulroney), a charming and handsome professional male escort, to pose as her new boyfriend and escort her to the wedding.

Even more valuable to Kat than Nick's good looks and charisma is his keen insight into human behavior--a well-learned trick of his trade. Over the course of the weekend, Nick takes on the role of the bride's therapist, the father's ideal son-in-law, the groom's new best friend and the object of every woman's affection. For Kat, what starts out as a pretend relationship with Nick begins to turn into something entirely unexpected: a second chance at love.

Review by: John Barker
- Take a pot shot but be warned.

           Dubious pop music, a young British cast, and the token American Z-grade actress, most people would be forgiven for thinking that this was another Five Weddings and Epidural, but wait it’s the latest concoction of chick-lit drivel – The Wedding Date.

            Yes ladies, grab a box of Kleenex and cry to your hearts content with the latest rom-com aimed solely at the female audience. This probably explains why I detested this film so much (other reasons will follow) and found myself cringing at pretty much every visual pun and punch-line throughout the tiring 86 minutes running time.

            Firstly, the story defines the word cliché; Kit (Debra Messing) has been invited to her sister’s birthday in sun-swept, Richard Curtis framed, England. Unfortunately, her ex-boyfriend Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield) is also invited, and she can’t bare to turn up without a date. Enter male prostitute Nick Mercer (Dermot Mulroney), who is pleasantly described as the ‘Yoda of escorts’ by his employer. Nick is hired for the four day wedding date to make Jeffrey jealous and in classic Pretty Woman fashion ends up falling for Kit. When will women ever learn that this kind of ploy is doomed to failure?

            Anyway, the usual high jinks follow and with love triangles and dodecahedrons spouting all over the place. There is even room for the supporting cast to get in on the romantic action. Celebrities from the C-list of British sit-com only add to the feeling that this film is the equivalent of cinematic vandalism. Jeremy Sheffield should, quite frankly, have stayed in Holby City and Kit from Will and Grace is way out of her depth on the big screen.

            The characterisation is sloppy at best, drawing on every male and female stereotype in existence. Vanity obsessed Kit treads a fine line between post-feminism and the ladette culture, which is best illustrated in the awful Hen-night sequence that sees 20 drunk and sweaty women ogle Nick before screaming their way around London’s cheesiest looking nightclub.

            Then again, the groom’s Stag night is hardly the pinnacle of cultured sophistication with the typical heavy alcohol consumption, strippers, and drunken, but emotional, stumble home. Nick is the calm, sober, voice of reason during the final night of freedom and although most of his dialogue goes down like a double vodka and coke, he seems to have the on-screen presence to carry the film, at least in comparison to the rest of the cast. 

            Using a typically stormy day to highlight the emotional crescendo between Kit and Nick is the final insult to an audience which have most probably watched Four Weddings and a Funeral’s rain-sodden climax a hundred times. If you enjoy this kind of formulaic romance, then please be my guest, but viewers wanting more a challenging night’s entertainment will certainly need a divorce from this movie about matrimony.