The Wedding Date (PG-13, 2005)

THE WEDDING DATE stars Debra Messing as Kat, an insecure young woman who has just seen two of the most terrifying words in the English language on her sister's wedding invitation. They are: "and guest." Her younger sister Amy (Amy Adams) is getting married. And Kat's ex-fiance is the best man. She needs a date to bring to the wedding so that "the ex-fiance will be sorry that he left you and your family will think we are in love." With $6000 from her retirement account, Kat hires Nick (Dermot Mulroney), a male escort she read about in the New York Times Magazine. Kat and Nick pretend to be in love to reassure the family and torture the ex. But there is an undeniable attraction between them as well.

All the romantic comedy gloss in the world can't save a script as stale as last week's wedding cake. Despite a promising set-up and talented performers, it leaks air like a tire that ran over a tack. The movie wants us to find Kat adorable and endearing. She is just fluttery, self-centered, and insecure. The movie wants us to find Nick desirable. But we hear about it more than we feel it. Kat's cousin is supposed to be delightfully outrageous. But raunchy is not the same thing as outrageous, even if a few supportive comments are tossed in, and it is especially not the same thing as delightfully outrageous. Give us something specific, people! That's why they call it "writing."

Then there is the troubling problem of having a light romantic comedy with characters whose behavior is unsavory. This lends a sour tinge to the purported hijinks. Most of the people behind this movie are women. They show some sensitivity to just what it is that someone like Kat would want from Nick, but, regrettably, they don't show any more wit, insight, heart, or imagination than we find in the dozens of dull movies about female characters made by men.

Studio: Universal Pictures
Director: Clare Kilner
Cast: Amy Adams, Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney
Genre: Comedy
Run time: 100 minutes
Theatrical release: February 4, 2005
DVD release: August 16, 2005
MPAA Rating: PG-13
MPAA explanation: sexual content including dialogue