The Wedding Date

The post that was planned for this week has been delayed, for a reason I'll explain next week. In lieu of that we're going to talk about weddings.

It's Memorial Day Weekend so I'm pretty sure wedding season starts now, though feel free to correct me. And every good wedding, as we know, starts with The List. The theory of The List is that to find a romantic partner you first must write down what you want in a romantic partner.

In The Wedding Date Debra Messing's character Kat operates under a similar assumption: that to get through her sister's wedding she needs a date who can make her look like she has it together, and demonstrate to her ex (the best man) that she's moved on to bigger and better things.

Then she meets this guy.

Image source: http://www.hotflick.net/flicks/2005_The_Wedding_Date/005TWD_Dermot_Mulroney_006.jpg

Is this going there? Yes, yes it is.

What ensues is what I like to call Straight Rom Com. A Straight Rom Com is a genre from the late nineties and early 2000s that includes no less than five of the following elements:

1. Opening shot of the New York City skyline
2. Song-based travel montage*
3. Workaholic lead actress
4. Wealth
5. Neuroticism
6. British people
7. Uncomfortable sleeping arrangements
8. Reconciliation through dance
9. A rainstorm
10. A wedding

Nick the escort (Dermot Mulroney) is the wrench thrown in to Kat's plans. He's so chill and good looking his resting pulse rate probably tops out at 40, nicely balancing out Messing's messy neuroticism in her first starring role post-Will and Grace. Plus, they look great together.

Image source: http://data2.whicdn.com/images/11291343/thumb.jpg

Whoever did the costume design for this movie deserves an award.

The result is a charming mess, with Kat's family rounding out the roster of characters as they make their way through to the wedding. Blonde Amy Adams makes a notable appearance as the ditzy younger sister, who in a hilarious bit of foreshadowing says, "Aw, hello Bambi!" to the deer mounted by the entrance of their estate.

It's light and airy and singing in the shower, dancing in front of your mirror type fun, albeit with a surprising amount of sex jokes. No one comments on how rich they are because their problems don't involve money. Or, some money, but not too much money, and for god's sake, don't count the money. Like the main character, it has heart and is very, very quietly funny.

Image source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1tZT0fMHWUkrVDxiRx0s9Dcyno8XVhHXEY76CeSPcZaHOhOaXegPuf04L8m15VbfSSvxQ_GTDzY4BladA2JQBUhoPWG9gsA40q-g2Vjp5jzbCHwGD7kC4YkR11bGX_bfONVntwnKZi4YS/s1600/TheWeddingDate2005720p-3.jpg
Somebody's smiling.

Where The Wedding Date missteps is when it seems to mistake a surface emotional response for genuine connection, as illustrated in a scene between Kat and Nick when she asks him to tell her something about himself. He says:

"I'm allergic to fabric softener. I majored in comparative literature at Brown. I hate anchovies. And I think I'd miss you even if we'd never left."

It's meant to be a romantic lynchpin, and it is, but all I can think is: those things are not a part of The List. They're surface details, not like Wants kids, or Empathetic, or Has a beard, or other values that people seek in their romantic partners.

Nick isn't lovable because he went to Brown, or because of his abs, or even because he gets along with Kat's stepfather: it's all those other things that take time to learn about and negotiate between two real people, that aren't confessions so much as finding the spaces where you meet, in private, after a wedding.

The Wedding Date is well worth the watch. You just have to indulge the obvious missteps and stick around for the ride. And if Michael Buble has to be a part of the action, so be it.

Image source: http://www.thatericalper.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/michael-buble-feb-2013.jpg

For all your dinner party needs.

For more Amy Adams, check out Enchanted.

*Bonus: the soundtrack includes the song One Fine Day (see: One Fine Day).