In a day where weddings seem to be as structured and planned as a theatrical production, the idea of the Bride’s best friend being a man, and still having the “maid of honor” role is seductive. That is the premise of this story, and it is amazing how much havoc is wreaked by this variation from the “norm.”
Tom (Patrick Dempsey) and Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) have been good friends since college days, developing a relationship that makes them best friends. For years Hannah has been interested in Tom, but he doesn’t see it, and is joyfully getting involved with as many women as possible.
It is the old story of you don’t know what you have until it is gone. Hannah meets a rich and handsome Scotsman and returns home to ask Tom to be her “maid of honor” at the wedding. Tom has just realized that Hannah is THE ONE, and now he is faced with the dilemma of being happy for her, or trying to take her away from her new love.
My work colleagues and I couldn’t wait to see this movie. It sounded deliciously funny, very clever and had a dream cast including actors Patrick Dempsey, Kevin McKidd, Kadeem Haridson and the late Sydney Pollack as Dempsey’s father, and actresses Michelle Monaghan, Kathleen Quinlan, Hannah Gordon, Beau Garrett and Busy Philipps. We saw the movie, and afterwards had quite a break room discussion about it.
First of all we agreed there were some very funny moments. We all LOVED the scenes with the “bridesmaids,”( including Patrick Dempsey,) and thought the luncheon was especially hysterical. I asked the others what they thought about the film as a whole, and what was good and why did we all agree that something was not quite as we had anticipated.
The consensus I received was that the romantic chemistry between Dempsey and Monaghan was non-existent. Both actors were trying to convince the audience of the connection, Monaghan perhaps working harder at it than Dempsey, but there was no real spark. One person said she found that she just didn’t care what happened in their relationship, and felt bad because she knew that was not the intent of the film.
Another person was somewhat shocked by the amount of suggestive situations and language for a PG-13 film, she felt the film didn’t “need that element” to be funny and entertaining.
The guys had no opinion about the film, most watched it with their wives, but were not enthusiastic or critical. Overall everyone judged this film to be okay, just a bit disappointing, but one to add to the list of wedding films that are viewed at a chick flick evening.
Made of Honor is presented on single disc with either widescreen or full screen viewing option. It has a running time of 1 hour and 41 minutes, with audio in English or French. English and French subtitles are available. A commentary by the director is available for the film.
Not as funny as we anticipated, and without the spark that other films have captured in romantic relationships, Made of Honor is an okay wedding film.
Made of Honor is now available at Amazon and AmazonUK . Visit the DVD database for more information.
Your Talkback on this Story