27 Dresses Parent Guide

Every bride needs a best friend like Jane (Katherine Heigl). Ask her to be the maid of honor and you can rest assured all the wedding details will be taken care of. Nothing, from napkin folds to hem lengths, goes unnoticed by this girl who shows up on wedding day with an arsenal of items to deal with any emergency. To prove her proficiency, Jane has a closet full of bridesmaid’s dresses—27 to be exact.

But brides-to-be aren’t the only ones to whom Jane lends a hand. At the office, she is the number one go-to-girl for her boss George (Edward Burns), even picking up his dry cleaning and bringing in breakfast. On the home front, she’s watched out for her father (Brian Kerwin) and taken care of her little sister Tess (Malin Akerman) since their mom died. But putting other’s wishes first comes at a cost.

After a whirlwind weekend of wedding responsibilities, Jane finally gets to spend time with her sister who is in town for the week. However when Tess announces she’s about to marry the man Jane is secretly in love with, the older sibling starts making a pre-nuptial to-do list rather than speaking up. Finally, the wedding planner is forced to face the absurdness of her situation when a newspaper columnist (James Marsden) covering Tess’s upcoming ceremony starts questioning Jane’s sanity. Yet learning to say no proves to be more difficult than dealing with a bridezilla.

While the array of cast off dresses will be enough to make any former bridesmaid grimace, the film’s content will leave some family members feeling uncomfortable as well. Upset by her sister’s engagement, Jane finds herself stranded in the ditch with the annoying reporter. Yet despite her dislike for Kevin, the two of them down numerous drinks at a nearby bar and then lead the other patrons in a rousing sing-along. Later, they spend the night together in the backseat of the stranded car. Along with repeated profanities, Jane expresses her frustrations with a partially screened sexual expletive.

Following a predictable pattern, 27 Dresses is pinned together with plenty of the expected cliches. Still the film offers some unpredictable character development and engaging humor. But with so many of these wedding guests more interested in pairing up than party favors, this is one dress parents might want to leave on the rack.

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.