Movie Previews

27 Dresses – reviewed by Jonathan Parker

A simplistic antidote to 2005’s edgier and much funnier Wedding Crashers

That old cliché always a bridesmaid, never a bride comes to life on the big screen in the insipid romantic comedy 27 Dresses. Director Anne Fletcher (Step Up) and writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) fail to deliver good or original ideas past the initial one in this lightweight movie whose only saving grace is the occasionally evident comedic talents of its leading lady.

Katherine Heigl plays Jane, a pretty 20-to-30-something who has been a bridesmaid 27 times but has never fallen in love and gotten married. The role of bridesmaid suits Jane well, because she is a great helper and organizer. Indeed, she is even a great assistant in the workplace, which is what she is. It’s there that she has an unrequited crush on her boss, George (Edward Burns). Just one problem: He falls for Jane’s sprightly model of a little sister, Tess (Malin Akerman). Meanwhile, a wedding reporter for the big city paper, Kevin (James Marsden), develops a thing for Jane. But Jane thinks Kevin is a lowlife. We know where all this is going, and that’s exactly where it goes.

It’s hard not to watch 27 Dresses and think of it as a simplistic antidote to 2005’s edgier and much funnier Wedding Crashers: a sort of clichéd female fantasy of being able to play a part in so many beautiful and wonderful weddings in juxtaposition to the male fantasy of going to so many weddings for the booze and the babes. In both films, what ultimately confronts these wedding-goers’ lifestyles are the cold hard realities of falling in love. Ahh love! Amazing how it can screw up even the most enjoyable of lifestyles. Both movies get worse as love seeps in.

Heigl is entertaining, at least, as the dopey Jane. She clearly has more skill at this romantic comedy stuff than most of her contemporaries who have given it a try: Jennifer Garner, Ann Hathaway, Katie Holmes and the lot. In a Hollywood that has long lost its ability to create stars who are romantic comedy female leads — a type that once dominated Hollywood’s Golden Age — Heigl shows potential. However, one wonders if she will become a real star or if she isn’t destined to quickly flame out like so many others of her ilk. For now, at least, she wears it well.

Fair romantic comedy • PG-13 • 107 mins.

The Darjeeling Limited – Mark Burns

Director Wes Anderson tinkers brilliantly with the agitation of the bohemian mind.

Three brothers reconnect on a trip through India in this comedy of quirk.

It’s been a year since brothers Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) last spoke. Since that day, their father’s funeral, each has withdrawn into private malaise. Now eldest Francis is determined to bring the brothers around. He has summoned the sibs to India and bought passage aboard the Darjeeling Limited train, setting them off on a meticulously planned spiritual quest to patch their bruised souls and restore their brotherhood. But their prepackaged soul search derails with the help of powerful over-the-counter Indian medicine; they end up stranded and redirected onto a new path.

As in all director Wes Anderson’s films since Rushmore, he enjoys tinkering with the agitation of the bohemian mind. Characters are imbued with brooding contemplation while lampooned by their own behavior and quirky humor delivered in deadpan. The dynamic between the brothers makes for richly comedic conflict, and touristy attempts at forced enlightenment bloom with eccentricity. Fleshing out the comedy is a dialogue steeped in carefully chosen academic language, flavoring characters with subtle touches of pomposity, curiousness and silliness.

Character powers this film, and all its personalities are displayed in a gilded cabinet of curiosities. Anderson’s eye for ambience is as sharp as ever, spending meticulous attention on such details as luggage, a perfume bottle, the train suite and a cobra box. Scenes of India are vibrant and rich enough to smell the sweet lime, particularly in the early market scene.

Anderson’s story is fairly solid. The brothers’ exotic walkabout is well established and gets rolling easily. Their efforts to reconnect play off the age dynamic and drive the story onward. The telling is clear and concise. High moments of kerfuffle keep the film energetic, and Anderson is adept at easily transitioning from goofiness to tragic drama without swamping the film in malaise or Hallmark saccharine. There’s smooth consistency to his signature style, with dialogue studded with silent, contemplative stares evocative of cringe-worthy encounters with a socially awkward geek-recluse. All blends together beautifully. The film’s weakest element, though, is its destination. The ultimate point of the movie is clear but distracted from by late misdirection, and the wispy finish is a little insubstantial.

Adrien Brody is a neat fit as the latest actor to join an Anderson production, while vets Schwartzman and Wilson continue to thrive with the material. Old hats Bill Murray and Kumar Pallana (Pagoda) score a couple cameos, while Anjelica Huston returns for a small role.

The Darjeeling Limited is a fine film that proves true to Anderson’s sharp wit and skillful craft. Fans of Anderson will be delighted, and the uninitiated will be treated to a sparkling introduction to the auteur’s work.

Good comedy • R • 91 mins.

The Departed – Jonathan Parker

Scorsese is up to speed with what we expect from our modern day mobsters; i.e. what The Sopranos have taught us to expect.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon play cops on opposite sides of the law, with Jack Nicholson as a mob kingpin to whom they are both connected, in the riveting drama The Departed. Master director Martin Scorsese (Raging Bull, Goodfellas, Gangs of New York) takes us into that violent world of street hoods and wise guys he knows so well, but this time the wise guys are cops.

Growing up in a tough South Boston Irish neighborhood, Colin Sullivan was practically raised by local gangster Frank Costello (Nicholson). As a young man, Colin (Damon) stayed loyal to his mobster mentor while he excelled in the police academy and became a state cop on the special organized crime unit. On the other side of the tracks, Billy Costigan (DiCaprio) grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth but stayed connected to his tough-guy roots in the same Boston neighborhood. After graduating from the police academy, Billy signed up to be an undercover agent within Frank’s gang. When it becomes apparent that there is a spy in the gang and a spy in the special police unit, accusations, investigations and violence unravel in Shakespearean fashion.

Scorsese refuses to become a dated filmmaker. Even though this film’s soundtrack is mostly pre-1975 rock and roll, including some familiar gems from previous Scorsese films (namely the Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”), what is on the screen is all up to speed with what we expect from our modern day mobsters, i.e. what The Sopranos have taught us to expect. Indeed, cell phones and text messaging play central plot-development roles, the film’s female lead (Vera Farmiga) is a psychological counselor for cops, and there are more rats in these ranks than in a filthy Boston alleyway. However, Scorsese is no copycat, as all this material comes off as inviting and fresh.

Stylistically, this film is probably one of Scorsese’s most straightforward. He doesn’t use his patented slow motion takes or dramatic voiceover narration to underline evolving characters. Instead, this film moves full steam ahead with jab after jab of short and snappy scenes of well-stated and critical dialogue. The story rapidly moves in front of our eyes, and we hang on every scene. Well, that is until about two-thirds through, when the film starts to lose steam and slow down a bit. Fortunately, a bang-up finale saves the day, and we depart the theater wanting to see it all again.