I preferred Made of Honor when it was called My Best Friend’s Wedding. But then I like Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz a lot more than I like Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan, and Rupert Everett more than Kevin McKidd (the relatively unknown but prolific Scottish actor – you’re most likely to recognize him fromTrainspotting if you recognize him at all – who plays Monaghan’s beau in this movie). It had a more realistic ending too. But I’m not reviewing My Best Friend’s Wedding, so let’s get off that track.

When viewing the typical romantic comedy, a critic is resigned to two concessions: (1) the stars of the film will, by movie’s end, have fallen in love; (2) they will be separated before then by a series of off-the-shelf complications which, if we’re lucky, will be triggered by a somewhat creative setup and actors charismatic enough to make the complications seem organic. Fans of the genre (like me) actually prefer it this way – we know that in real life relationships aren’t that easy, and don’t go to romantic comedies to remind ourselves of this.

For the most part, Made of Honour is a solid romantic comedy, and one I don’t regret seeing. Personally I bought the relationship between Tom (Dempsey) and Hannah (Monaghan), who meet in college during a Hallowe’en party when Tom, in a rare occurrence compared to the rest of the movie, fumbles one of his dates and ends up speaking with her roommate instead. He tells Hannah that women who want to sleep with him have the look (her look) of a dog just before it’s fed. She responds by saying that’s impossible, he’s not only arrogant but his looks are less than perfect, and as an arts student, explains precisely why.

The film then cuts to a typical day in their adult lives, as Tom coaxes Hannah into being his date for his father’s sixth wedding (bringing another girl would imply he wants the relationship to be more than it is) and brings her along when shopping for a gift. They go for a stroll after the wedding, which is when Hannah (who works as a curator) makes the announcement that her museum’s sending her off to Scotland for six weeks.

And here’s what separates Made of Honour from most of the romantic comedies I’ve seen recently: it feels organic. The movie includes, and is not limited to, a main character with no discernable income (apparently Tom invented cupholders and receives three cents for every cup of Starbucks coffee sold); the female lead’s best friend who hates the male lead but secretly wants to sleep with him; the male lead’s friends who bond by insulting each other during physical activity (in this case basketball); a “shower scene” in which the male lead discovers exactly what he’s up against; a speech in which one character is pouring their heart out but the other thinks they mean something else; a scene in which one character catches another in a compromising position and walks out before the other can explain that it’s not what they think it is; a grandmother who wears pleasure beads as a necklace; and every slapstick Scottish stereotype you can imagine. But the setups (except for the compromising position) are so well established, so true to the characters (the most laboured, Tom being nicer to dogs than he is to people, has no discernable payoff) and so believably tied to whatever they’re doing, we don’t realize anything was set up until after the payoff.

Until the last 30 minutes. Whereas My Best Friend’s Wedding is saved by its final act, Made of Honour is sunk by it. The way Tom could have handled his final plea is set up believably: he and Hannah agree that he will tell his father “I’m happy that you’re happy” instead of what he really thinks. And as the movie progresses it’s clear Tom could have given Hannah away as her maid of honour and said “I’m happy that you’re happy” and she’d have understood what he meant. She probably would have chosen him. What happens instead is slapstick, conventional and, like every other romantic comedy, contrived.

I’ll admit that not everyone will buy the central relationship. The movie sets it up as well as it can, but when you’re as close with a friend of the opposite sex as Tom and Hannah are, you know precisely why you aren’t together. Sometimes that reasoning isn’t mutual, which is why the dating-the-best-friend fantasy persists, but it’s understood.

Then again, what do I know? I’m close with my female friends, but I doubt any of them would ask me to be their maid of honour.






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