Made
to measure
Made
of Honour is a lightweight romantic comedy with a curious
plot twist. Rather a vehicle for pleasant guy Patrick Dempsey
who reminds a little of one of the romantic heroes from the golden
age of cinema with his infectious relaxed charm. Although the
film opens without much promise things do improve, but not a great
deal. It gets more interesting when it romps into land of the
Scots.
Tom (Patrick Dempsey) a New York yuppie with cheerful
sex appeal which keeps him busy dating a steady stream of one
nights stands. Not into commitment, Tom enjoys the relaxed company
of Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) a close platonic friend from his
college days who manages to put up with his philandering ways.
Things go awry when Hannah takes a trip to Scotland
for six weeks and comes back in the arms of a formidable Scottish
Duke (Kevin McKidd). She’s already engaged to this wealthy
Colin of the Highlands, just as Tom discovers he’s really
truly deeply in love with Hannah. “There’s more to
life than just sleeping around.” But is it too late ?
The weird twist comes when Hannah asked Tom to be
her “Maid” of Honour, and attend the big Scottish
wedding. Tom reckons in this quirky role he may be able to wreck
the wedding and thus win Hannah back off Scottish Royalty. Well
it’s not as easy as he might think, and there are a lot
of hurdles to be jumped (literally) before he can claim his love.
While
the romantic leads have chemistry together the comedy is routine.
Thankfully the splendid Scottish landscapes lift your spirits
when the action shifts to that scenic country, though the gag
writers are seemingly impressed with old Monarch of the Glen scripts.
Much of this highland humour is forced upon us with the subtlety
of a small atomic weapon. Taking pot shots at haggis, kilts, bagpipes,
and local dialects. Nevertheless it has amusing moments as the
pace picks up a notch or two.
The highland games, the bride's unfortunate wedding
attire, and a formal dinner in the Scottish Castle enable Tom
to intercede and throw a small spanner into the works. A typical
running gag - Scottish guests think as the Maid of Honour urbane
Tom must be gay. Earlier in the film there’s a neat slapstick
routine with a waiter in a high class restaurant.
A cameo role for Sydney Pollack (Michael Clayton)
playing Tom’s much married Dad has its moments, and the
antics of Tom’s basketball friends work well. The assembly
of quaint Scottish characters also look relics from Monarch of
The Glen. Michelle Monaghan (Gone Baby Gone) with a sweet
girl next door manner on the screen, meshes effectively with the
sophisticated charm of Patrick Dempsey (Enchanted). They’re
a pleasant enough team. Kevin McKidd (Hannibal Rising)
turns in a reasonable performance as a Scottish Lord with muscles.
Standard direction by Paul Wieland who has helmed Mr. Bean adventures
in earlier times.
I’d have liked a little more meat in the sandwich
and believable characters, however overall there are enough funny
lines scattered about to make it moderately entertaining, though
not in the top bracket of comedy. As it features latest heart
throb Patrick Dempsey, there’s little doubt it will have
special appeal to his gathering number of female admirers.
John Bale
