Nothing special about this 'Date'
By The Associated Press
Even if you'd never seen a romantic comedy, "The Wedding Date" would seem stale.
They're all there -- every cliche of the genre. You could sit in the audience with a list.
A neurotic and slightly klutzy heroine who has closed off her heart to the possibility of love? Check.
A dashing suitor who seems all wrong for her but might just be Mr. Right? Got it.
A wedding as the setting for all of the movie's cataclysmic contrivances? Of course.
Which brings us to our next cliche: The ensemble of daffy British friends who are always ready with a drink, a ciggie and a saucy quip.
Director Clare Kilner may have wanted to give single girls the cinematic equivalent of a favorite sweater -- warm, comfortable, familiar. What she's come up with is tepid, awkward and flat.
It's flawed from the premise alone: Kat (Debra Messing) has to fly to London for the wedding of her sister, Amy (Amy Adams). The best man is her ex-fiance, Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield), who jilted her. Kat isn't dating anyone, and she can't show up alone, so she takes $6,000 out of her 401(k) to hire Nick, a male escort, to pose as her boyfriend.
We're supposed to believe that any character played by Messing can't find a date?
It's a bummer that the likable "Will and Grace" star stumbled into such a forgettable movie for her first starring role.
Kat and Nick fly to London for the wedding. They deflect questions from family and friends about how they met. They're forced to share a bed at her parents' house. Nick warns that intimacy will cost extra.
Kat has nothing to worry about, though. Everybody loves Nick. Women think he's hot, men are astounded by his wisdom. (And why he's working as a male escort is a mystery this wisp of a movie never bothers to solve. He tells Kat he has a degree in comparative literature from Brown.)
What follows is a series of ill-timed confessions and well-timed changes of heart. Kat and Nick have a fight but find themselves falling in love in the next scene when they're forced to take a dance lesson together.
You'll find that you know the steps by heart, too.
"The Wedding Date" is rated PG-13. â˜...âũâũâũ