The Wedding Date (2005)
Directed by Clare Kilner
With the wedding of her younger sister fast approaching, Kat Ellis faces the undesirable prospect of traveling alone to London for the ceremony. While this is bad enough, Jeffrey, the man who left her as they moved closer to marriage, happens to be the groom's best man. Determined to show everyone -- most of all Jeffrey -- that her romantic life is as full and thrilling as ever, Kat hires a charming male escort as her date.
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What critics compared The Wedding Date to
It's an amusing premise, the whole "Pretty Woman"-in-reverse thing: Kat, the addled heroine of "The Wedding Date," has nuptials to attend across the pond, and no beau in sight.
A similar premise charmed with Julia Roberts and Richard Gere in Pretty Woman, the difference being she was the working girl and he was the client.
As a result "The Wedding Date" comes across not unlike a cross between "Pretty Woman" and the afore-referenced "My Best Friend's Wedding" (while managing to avoid the inherent sordidness of the former and the underlying sadness of the latter).
Screenwriter Dana Fox takes a page from "Pretty Woman," but in sexist fashion tips the scales of power to favor the male prostitute.
There is much by way of formula here, though, with such films as "Four Weddings and a Funeral" showing their influence in this by-the-numbers romantic comedy.
Four Weddings and a Funeral, My Big Fat Greek Wedding , and My Best Friends Wedding (also with Mulroney) come to mind.
It's not up to "Four Weddings and a Funeral" with Hugh Grant, or "My Best Friend's Wedding" with Julia Roberts (and... Dermont Mulroney who seems to be establishing a foothold on this material) but the cake tastes pretty much the same in the end.
Director Clare Kilner and first-time hack Dana Fox hustle down the well-trod aisle of all those wedding movies (from "Four Weddings and a Funeral" to "My Best Friend's Wedding") like replicant brides.
Meanwhile, the film’s director Christian Ditter’s last work was the melodrama Love, Rosie (2014), and additional screenwriter Dana Fox — who wrote The Wedding Date (2005), What Happens in Vegas (2008) and Couples Retreat (2009) — also created the 2012 sitcom Ben and Kate , which starred Dakota Johnson.
It is directed by Christian Ditter from a screenplay by a veteran romcom writing crew: Abby Kohn, Mark Silverstein and Dana Fox (whose CVs include Valentine's Day, He's Just Not That Into You and The Wedding Date).
Even more of a “chick flick” than earlier entries by these screenwriters (“The Wedding Date,” “He’s Just Not That Into You,” “Valentine’s Day”) and based on a novel by Liz Tuccillo, who once wrote for “Sex and the City,” the picture is so female-centric that while it should prove popular for girls’ night out, it may not be the right choice for a date on February 14.