Kat Ellis (Debra Messing) has a problem. Her sister Amy (Amy Adams) is getting married to the wealthy Edward Fletcher-Wooten (Jack Davenport) in a few short days, and her former fiancee Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield) is the best man. Kat has never recovered from Jeffrey and still fantasizes about a perfect life with him. Because of this, she is still single and lonely in New York City. The wedding is in England in just a few short days, so Kat suddenly decides to hire a male escort to take her to the wedding posing as her loving boyfriend.
This is where Nick Mercer (Dermot Mulroney) comes into the picture. Studying at Brown University for a degree in literature, he takes his escorting job as a way to make money - but doesn't base it completely on sex. His philosophy is to make the woman realize how wonderful she is, enabling them to free themselves and become open to new relationships. He meets Kat on the airplane and the two fly off to England together.
Upon their arrival, the entire family is fascinated by this new relationship. Kat's mother Bunny (Holland Taylor) and stepfather Victor (Peter Egan) seem accepting, as does Amy and Edward. But Jeffrey has a bad feeling about Nick and his curiosity is at an extreme high. This is exactly what Kat wants, hoping he will feel jealous enough to come back to her. But what started out as a simple plan of deception becomes much more when Kat and Nick begin to really fall for each other.
THE WEDDING DATE is just like any other romantic comedy and follows all the known cliches of the genre. However, it is still a fairly cute and enjoyable excursion that isn't a complete waste of time. Debra Messing steals the show as Kat. I've always been a huge fan of Messing on "Will & Grace" and she shows that she is indeed a leading lady here. Dermot Mulroney is also good as the confident Nick. However, the chemistry between the two needs a bit of work. They aren't the worst in terms of it, but the film could have easily benefited from some work in that department.
The main reason the film isn't as successful as it should be is because of the horrible editing. The film moves at a very odd pace throughout and scenes just seem patched together - with nothing of note really connecting them. It is obvious that this film had some content edited out, because it doesn't flow that well at all. A few scenes are left unexplained as well and will make the audience confused. The script is solid, giving the actors plenty of comedy to work with. However, a scene in particular at the end didn't work at all and was obviously added because they needed some sort of conflict between Nick and Kat. Running at just under an hour and 20 minutes (without credits), this is a slightly brisk affair, and with more content it could have easily been a much better film.
Supporting performances are decent, if not spectacular. The best is Sarah Parish, who gives a hilarious performance as the witty best friend TJ. Amy Adams plays essentially the same character she does in every film and doesn't do anything extraordinary. Jack Davenport isn't given much to work with but he's likable and easy to relate to. Peter Egan and Holland Taylor are pretty much wasted in the roles of the parents.
Overall,
THE WEDDING DATE is a solid film. It has some serious editing problems and isn't anything extraordinary, but it's a cute and charming little picture with two likable leads. Enjoy!
7/10 (B-)
