Made of Honor (2008)

"...the delightful Michelle Monaghan makes walking down this aisle a treat.  Christian Toto, The Washington Times
"Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan make an agreeable pair in this above-average comedy...  J.R. Jones, Chicago Reader
"...a pleasant surprise, funnier and smarter than one would expect.  Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
"...an amusing, smartly cast romantic comedy told from a guy's perspective.  Michael Rechtshaffen, The Hollywood Reporter
"...[Dempsey and Monaghan] rise to the challenge of making friendship look like the wellspring of true love.  Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
"...adds tart satirical flavors to a cotton-candy formula without sabotaging the sugar rush.  Stephen Holden, The New York Times
"...a delightful, audience-pleasing, fun-filled fairytale of laughter and love.  Susan Granger, SSG Syndicate

Editor's Note Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey leads this big-budget romantic comedy, making optimal use of his many swoon-inducing charms. Dempsey is Tom, a wealthy womanizer living the high life in New York City. He happily hops from bed to bed, living by a firm set of rules that keeps him from becoming romantically entangled with anyone. The only woman he makes time for is his dear college friend, Hannah (Michelle Monaghan), whom he sees weekly, and whom he adores. When Hannah suddenly takes off for Scotland on a job assignment, Tom misses her terribly, and has a dramatic realization about their relationship. He makes a plan to tell her about it as soon as she gets back, but of course she returns with a handsome Scottish fiancé (Kevin McKidd) in tow. To make matters worse, she informs Tom that she must make wedding plans rather quickly, and would he please, please, please be her Maid of Honor? In typical rom-com fashion, the tale quickly escalates into over-the-top, barely believable plot twists, forcing the viewer to turn a blind eye to any holes in the story and instead focus on the pretty clothes and Dempsey's dimples. It shifts into full-on fantasy mode, with rugged lads on horseback, Scottish castles, and gargantuan New York apartments that only Bill Gates himself could afford. Monaghan is likeable and lovely in her role as the confused bride, but the star here is undoubtedly Dempsey. Despite being cast as a slick Casanova, he still manages to exude the fumbling charm from his CAN'T BUY ME LOVE days. His non-threatening grin will likely be put on repeat at slumber parties everywhere, charming yet another generation of teenage girls.

	Richmond Arquette
	Sydney Pollack
	Kadeem Hardison
	Patrick Dempsey
	Kathleen Quinlan
	James B. Sikking
	Kevin Sussman
	Selma Stern
	Chris Messina
	Busy Philipps
	Kevin McKidd
	Michelle Monaghan
	Deborah Kaplan - Screenwriter
	Rupert Gregson-Williams - Composer
	Callum Greene - Executive Producer
	Sean Perrone - Executive Producer
	Tania Landau - Executive Producer
	Amanda Lewis - Executive Producer
	Tony Pierce-Roberts - Director of Photography
	Adam Sztykiel - Screenwriter
	Adam Sztykiel - Story
	Neal H. Moritz - Producer
	Aaron Kaplan - Executive Producer
	Ryan Kavanaugh - Executive Producer
	Marty Adelstein - Executive Producer
	Harry Elfont - Screenwriter
	Paul Weiland - Director

New York Times
"The romantic comedy MADE OF HONOR adds tart satirical flavors to a cotton-candy formula without sabotaging the sugar rush." 05/02/2008

Entertainment Weekly
"Dempsey, with his relaxed charm, and Monaghan, with her soft and peachy sensual spark, rise to the challenge of making friendship look like the wellspring of true love." -- Grade: B 05/09/2008 p.46

Sight and Sound
"Dempsey puts in a likeable turn....Monaghan delivers a sweet if subdued performance..." 07/01/2008 p.62-63

ReelViews 6 of 10
Romantic comedies sell fantasy. Ultimately, that's their reason for being - to make even the most cynical heart crave true love. Some romantic comedies, this one included, fail because of an inability to convince the audience that the protagonists deserve to live happily ever after. There's a simple romantic comedy litmus test. Ask this question: By the time the moment of decision arrives, are we rooting for these two to be together? Is their union, inevitable though it may be in a movie world where formula is valued over all else, the only path to a satisfying ending? Sadly, for Made of Honor, with its drawn-out, poorly developed love affair and paper thin characters, the answer is no. We expect the two leads to end up together - not because they inspire us to quote sonnets but because that's how we have been conditioned. I like it when a movie seduces me; this one doesn't...Most of the humor in Made of Honor is tepid, but that's not unusual for a romantic comedies. Unless someone like Judd Apatow is involved, movies in this genre are more interested in melting hearts than busting guts. Made of Honor does neither. The movie is being touted as "counterprogramming" for Iron Man, but this amounts to providing a stale, unremarkable alternative to something that's surprisingly fresh and energetic. Made of Honor is a prefabricated example of shoddy workmanship. - James Berardinelli

Reel.com 6 of 10
Tom (Patrick Dempsey) had one good idea in college. He invented the coffee collar, that cardboard ring that fits around a cup and keeps a customer's hand from burning...Much like Tom, the romantic comedy Made of Honor has one good idea, and here it is: Hannah asks Tom to be her maid of honor in a bit of a gender switch, giving the conniving lothario two weeks (for some reason, weddings in tepid screenplays such as this always happen in two weeks) to disrupt the nuptials and win his dream girl back...Let's acknowledge a few things right off the bat. First, Dempsey's incredibly popular with the ladies. His female fan base has swelled thanks to his work as Dr. McDreamy on the smash hit Grey's Anatomy. Based on the (unsolicited) feedback I received from female readers and co-workers, Dempsey is to women what Miley Cyrus is to teenage girls. If the two ever met in a movie, the film would potentially outgross Titanic...The screenplay recycles tired cliches and director Paul Weiland (Leonard Part 6) contentedly settles on the easiest jokes. (A gag involving a sassy grandmother and a glow-in-the-dark sex toy gets used three separate times.) At least Dempsey and Monaghan beam like 100-watt bulbs as they make the most of the formulaic material. They're both able to walk away from this with their honor intact. - Sean O'Connell