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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 17, 2008

27 DRESSES *½

"27 Dresses" is so chock full of romantic-comedy cliches, it almost plays like a parody.

Katherine Heigl's Jane is always a bridesmaid and never a bride, a role she's performed 27 times already because she's so adept at anticipating and meeting her friends' every prenuptial need.

She's secretly in love with her boss (Edward Burns) but, naturally, there's another guy out there (James Marsden) whom she initially clashes with, and who obviously will end up being the one to keep her from having to wear bridesmaid dress No. 28.

Director Anne Fletcher ("Step Up") and writer Aline Brosh McKenna ("The Devil Wears Prada") also cram in a wisecracking best friend, the obligatory trying-on-clothes montage featuring all the hideous taffeta concoctions in Jane's closet, and a cringe-inducing sing-along to Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets."

And of course, the whole thing wraps up with a mad dash to blurt out some very painful, public I-love-yous. On stage. At a microphone. Outside of movies like this, does anyone really do that sort of thing?

Heigl has such an intriguingly different presence for a rom-com heroine, though - there's nothing cutesy about her, nothing self-conscious - she makes you long desperately to see her work with more inspired material.

Her younger sister, Tess (Malin Akerman), has skated her whole life on her looks and her party-girl personality - and she manages to sweep Burns' character off his feet the night she meets him at a bar, much to Jane's dismay. Then they end up getting engaged within weeks, since Tess has lied to make him think she's the perfect woman for him: an outdoorsy, animal-loving vegan.

Guess who the maid of honor will be?

Anyway, the chief source of tension comes from Marsden's character, Kevin, lying about the fact that he's the guy who's been writing the wedding columns Jane adores. She just thinks he's a reporter - and a cynical one, at that.

Marsden shows a comic side here and gets a couple of good lines. He and Heigl would seem to have some chemistry, only the banter isn't snappy enough to allow it to shine through.

PG-13 for profanity, innuendo and sexuality; 107 minutes

Christy Lemire,

The Associated Press

CLOVERFIELD

"Godzilla" meets YouTube in "Cloverfield," a cheesy idea that gets a huge boost from the immediacy of its style.

The entire film is presented in video footage recorded by a young man as he and several friends make their way through a ravaged Manhattan filled with unexpected dangers.

There's this big party, see, to say farewell to Rob (Michael Stahl-David), an upwardly mobile young guy who has been named vice-president of his company and will soon be transferred to Japan.

Rob's best friend Hud has been assigned to man a videocam and collect testimonials from all of Rob's friends.

He also stumbles across a juicy bit of gossip - Rob apparently has had a secret fling with his longtime gal pal Beth (Odette Yustman), who is angry because afterward he never called. Rob and Beth have a big argument and she storms off.

Rob is moping when, 20 minutes into the movie, all heck breaks lose.

The lights flicker and go out, the city erupts in explosions and the head of the Statue of Liberty comes careening down the street followed by a huge cloud of debris. Our characters (with Hud still recording the proceedings) try to flee across the Brooklyn Bridge, only to witness its collapse.

Rob announces that he's going into the heart of the action to find and rescue Beth, thus proving his love. Everyone else goes along with this numbskull notion.

Ere long they're dodging bullets, roaring military vehicles and falling masonry. Hud is able to capture brief glimpses of the attacking monster with his camera. Imagine a praying mantis melded with a salamander and dropping nasty "babies" that resemble large, voracious crabs.

Yes, "Cloverfield" is preposterous. But by having the entire movie flowing through Hud's camera the filmmakers achieve a convincing verisimilitude. Instead of standing outside the movie looking in, we're immersed in the action.

PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images; 90 minutes

Robert W. Butler,

McClatchy Newspapers

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