AllMovie

An unofficial extra branch of the multi-billion-dollar wedding industry, the wedding movie serves to make prospective brides even more excited about dresses, centerpieces, venues, and everything else that will cost them tens of thousands before the big day. 27 Dresses is no more than or less than a fully functioning cog in that machine, straining credibility by about the same amount as most of its brethren (or "sisters," perhaps). The film takes to an extreme our collective notion that bridesmaid dresses are notoriously unwearable. It's not that this isn't sort of a funny idea, but the film overdoes it by suggesting that Katherine Heigl's Jane has so many intimate girlfriends, she's made the final cut for 27 different wedding parties. But the only person she's seen palling around with is the acerbic and unmarried Casey, played by Judy Greer in what can best be described as "the Judy Greer role." 27 Dresses also regurgitates the familiar scenario involving the "perfect person" (in this case, Edward Burns) whose only failure is that he falls for someone decidedly imperfect (Malin Akerman), and only our heroine, who must be a good sport and not intervene, can recognize the mismatch. The target audience for 27 Dresses is not demanding originality, but they should demand something more than this. Every plot development is calculated and obvious, and only Heigl's deft comic timing delivers any spark at all. To further drive home the idea that "everybody's getting married, and so should you," Heigl participates in two weddings at once by cabbing back and forth across town, changing dresses in the back seat, and James Marsden's frustrated reporter documents these unions through gooey features splashed across the newspaper. If the wedding machine is so great, how come no one here seems like they're having any fun?