Dress to impress

Chick flicks fit in two categories: ones that star Matthew McConaughey and ones that don't. "27 Dresses" does not, and it is therefore a good chick flick by default. So as not to offend the two men in the sold-out theater, the adorable film can be upgraded from "chick flick" to romantic comedy. \n"27 Dresses" has all the components of a perfect romantic comedy: a modest single woman (Katherine Heigl), an unattainable love interest (Edward Burns), a smart-talking best friend and the inevitable hunk with chiseled cheekbones, sparkling blue eyes and luscious thick hair (James Marsden).\nThe plot is frivolous enough. Jane (Heigl) is an over-achieving perfectionist obsessed with weddings — so much so that she has been a maid of honor 27 times. She revels in controlling the details from food selection to dress fittings but neglects her own love life. She is madly in love with her boss, who ends up falling for Jane's bleach-blond, leggy baby sister Tess (Malin Akerman). Along comes Kevin (Marsden), a journalist who writes the wedding column for a giant newspaper, to save the day. He is fascinated by Jane and secretly writes a Page 1 feature about her life as a perpetual bridesmaid.\nHeigl is believable as the selfless, control-freak Jane, but Marsden is absolutely perfect. He not only made all the women in the movie swoon, but by the number of audible sighs ringing throughout the theater, the entire audience was smitten as well. He is the new McConaughey -- with more hunk and less annoying baby voice. The movie follows the simple romantic comedy formula and the ending is, as always, a happy one.\nThe only two issues with the movie are that Jane spends a lot of the movie turned off by Kevin, when in real life, no one would turn him down. On a more realistic note, the efforts to downplay Heigl's looks in comparison to her beautiful sister are annoying. Heigl looks drab, and there are at least six different scenes of her stuffing her face. At least there weren't any vag shots a la "Knocked Up." \nIssues aside, chick flick (oops-"romantic comedy") connoisseurs will not be disappointed.