by Missy Thompson

STAFF WRITER

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Patrick Dempsey. The "McDreamy" actor has visited Tooele County twice in the last two years when he raced at Miller Motorsports Park. Despite his love for racing, he is still a hunky Hollywood actor and the success of television's "Grey's Anatomy" and the film "Enchanted" have turned him in to a leading man.

Dempsey's newest project, "Made of Honor," is a bland rip off of "My Best Friend's Wedding" and just about every other cliched chick flick imaginable. I went in to this movie hoping it would be decent, if not good. But I was severely disappointed by the lack of imagination and the surplus of derivative regurgitation from this genre.

Dempsey is not horrible in his role as a playboy who has specific rules about the women he dates. His costar Michelle Monaghan is lovely in all respects but doesn't have enough power to carry the entire movie by herself. When Dempsey and Monaghan played off each other, however, the movie didn't seem as bad.

The main problem with "Made of Honor" is that the writers and director tried way too hard to make this out to be a fun comedy. Instead it turned into the epitome of a romantic comedy, i.e. chick flick. I'm a woman and I like those sappy, heartfelt movies too -- but not this one. That's surprising because Dempsey is in it and they travel to Scotland.

Writers Adam Sztykiel and Deborah Kaplan seemed as if they wanted to pretend like they weren't playing up stereotypes or making offensive remarks, but they were. Throughout the entire film are moments when a stereotype is brought up. It isn't funny and doesn't make the movie any better. They also tried too hard to be funny when coming up with lines. It was as if they walked into a bad stand-up comedy club and plagiarized material.

In "Made of Honor," best friends Tom (Dempsey) and Hannah (Monaghan) meet at Halloween party when Tom believes he's hooking up with Hannah's roommate. Ten years later, Tom is rich due to his "coffee collar" creation, and Hannah works in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Tom is a Hue Hefner of sorts, he dates many different women, never back-to-back but always manages to have time for Hannah.

When Hannah leaves for Scotland for six weeks, Tom doesn't know what he'll do without his best friend. But while she's gone he realizes he actually loves her and wants to be solely with her. Unbeknownst to him, Hannah has fallen for a handsome, rich and royal Scotsman, Colin McMurray (Kevin McKidd). Hannah delivers another blow when she asks him to be her maid of honor.

With the help of his friends, Tom has to plan the perfect wedding and be the best maid of honor and then steal the bride. Everything he does is a competition with Colin, who is the perfect guy. And it isn't until Hannah's mother Joan (Kathleen Quinlan) mentions that she always thought her daughter would marry Tom that Hannah begins to second guess her hasty marriage.

Although most of the movie is barely above decent, "Made of Honor" might find a crowd in newlyweds or recently engaged couples. That's the audience this movie is designed for. I know Dempsey fans will want to see it and if he's what you're looking at the entire movie, you won't be disappointed. But if you're looking for something that will invigorate your mind, "Made of Honor" definitely isn't the movie you should be seeing this weekend. It's a light romantic comedy that has a handful of funny moments sporadically placed among a bland storyline.

missy@tooeletranscript.com