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| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
12A | | Cast
Kevin McKidd
Michelle Monaghan
Patrick Dempsey
Kelly Carlson
Busy Philipps. | | Directors
Paul Weiland. | | Screenwriters
Harry Elfont
Deborah Kaplan
Adam Szytikel. | | Running Time
101 minutes |
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Made of Honour (12A) Plot
Tom (Dempsey) and Hannah (Monaghan) are best friends, but just as he decides he wants more, she announces her engagement to Scottish Duke Colin (McKidd). Tom reluctantly agrees to be Maid of Honour at their Scottish wedding in the hope that Hannah will realise he’s the one for her.Review
Another month, another wedding comedy. We could spend a whole review pointing out comparisons with Four Weddings And A Funeral, Wedding Crashers, 27 Dresses and even - yikes - The Wedding Date. Early signs that this effort will easily trump the latter four, however, soon give way to a disappointingly unoriginal entry to the genre. The casting scores the first point. Michelle Monaghan and Patrick “McDreamy” Dempsey spark off each other immediately as a smart-talking platonic pair clearly destined for each other. His cynical New Yorker turn is taken one step further than usual: Tom is a ruthless womaniser who refuses to see a date two nights in a row (“I don’t do back-to-backs”). The legion of adoring model-types prepared to accept this won’t win over either realists or feminists, but his philosophies are sharp enough to amuse, and his easy relationship with Monaghan’s Hannah prevents us from dismissing him as a hopeless misogynist. Hannah is also cast in a flattering light. She’s contrastingly sweet, bright and down to earth, if occasionally under-developed and disappointingly shocked by the presence of sex toys at her bridal shower (perhaps there’s a cultural difference here). When the classic love obstacle strides into the picture in the strapping shape of Kevin McKidd, the wit keeps coming. McKidd’s Colin dismays Tom with his hilariously overstated perfection, trouncing him in everything from basketball to the trouser department. For good measure, he also distils excellent whisky, sings love songs, tosses cabers and is a honest-to-goodness Duke. Nevertheless, the story takes a distinct downward turn when the wedding party heads off to Colin’s native Scotland. Enter the pursed-lipped, tartan-touting, whisky-swigging Scots in their stately castle, all too keen to frown on the American invasion. There’s no fun or originality in a stereotypical portrayal that’s borderline xenophobic in its depiction of a narrow-minded clan and plain ridiculous looking to British audiences. Still, the chemistry continues despite the increasingly sentiment and the comic misfires (that caber scene, ‘comedy’ thick Scottish brogues). Ditto the supporting cast: sitcom regular Busy Philipps shows breakout promise in her role as a competitive bridesmaid determined to outdo Tom. It’s just a shame the plot’s so predictable: an early hint of a twist proved to be either our imagination or the victim of an on-set rewrite. Verdict
A strong opening, bursting with wit and vigour, gives way to a predictable, patronising and immensely lazy second half. Could have been so much more.
Reviewer: Anna Smith
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Average user rating for Made of Honour
| So Predictable! | | | Another movie I watched last night and man, it's bad. Now, I quite adore Patrick Dempsey and he was delightfully handsome in Enchanted but in this he's nothing but a typical man. "I'll sleep with any woman but never my best friend and when she goes away for a while, I start to wonder about what I'm doing and have feelings for her" Sigh! Haven't we heard this all before? When Michelle Monaghan brings Kevin "that Rome guy" Mckidd to him saying that she's getting married to him,... Read More
| | | joanna likes films About me | | 09:57, 05 October 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | A pointless screwed up film. Absolutely predictable. | | | It makes you laugh, sometimes. Like Melanie, on Jackie Brown, says: I'll give it that. It's still a fuck-up.
1.Pretty damn predictable.
2.Stupid jokes. Well, actually, that was the only good thing.
3.Obvious ending.
4.The waste of talent of gorgeous Michelle Monaghan. ... Read More
| | | nc_jj About me | | 05:16, 11 May 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | RE: Absolutely Terrible | | I thought romantic comedies were supposed to be funny and romantic - This was neither. The idea is lead character realises he loves friend when she gets engaged to someone else and then decides to try and win her heart - Thing is he's a twat so you don't want him to win her heart. There's a cast of pointless support actors (one in particular with little shorts on) and no real laughs.
4/10 ... Read More
| | | Marvel_79 About me | | 08:55, 05 May 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | Absolutely Terrible | | | Not sure the previous poster saw the same movie as me but i have to say this film was quite possibly the most ignorant, arrogant and insulting peace of filmaking i've seen in the 21st Century. ... Read More
| | | Link About me | | 00:41, 04 May 2008 | Report This Post | |
| | | | | | This movie is a Romantic Comedy that could have been average. Instead,director Paul Weiland has somehow managed to give us a film which is funny and entertaining from start to finish.
Patrick Dempsey plays a womanizing hunk, no surprise there, but he does so with good humor and a sense of comic timing that some people may not have known he posesses. Co star Michelle Monaghan also does a great job , dealing equally well with both the comedic and the tender moments in the movie. This pair a... Read More
| | | ablaze100 About me | | 23:34, 29 April 2008 | Report This Post | |
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