In "Made of Honor," one character tells another, "Anytime is the right time to say I love you." Actually, there are a couple of situations where that sort of declaration may not be the most appropriate thing to say. A funeral, perhaps, or maybe just after getting dumped. Or, you know, right before the person you are saying it to is to be married, and not to you. In real life, the thought of someone busting into a wedding to steal the bride is ridiculous and a little bit selfish. But in "Made of Honor," it's the ultimate act of love.

The film works off the ever-popular notion that opposites attract. Tom (Patrick Dempsey, TV's "Grey's Anatomy") is a rich and handsome womanizer who lives by a set of "wedding crasher"-esque rules for dating women. His best friend Hannah (Michelle Monaghan, "The Heartbreak Kid") is uptight, rigid and highly critical of Tom's playboy lifestyle. The plot reads like a Comso article. Can men and women be just friends? (Apparently not.) Do men just want what they can't have? (Apparently so.) After Hannah leaves the country for six long weeks, Tom realizes that his never-ending parade of bimbos can't fill Hannah's place and vows to ask her out as soon as she returns. The problem? She comes back engaged and wanting Tom to be her maid of honor - presumably romantic things to follow.

At least, that was the intention of the filmmakers. What really happens is more like a less funny and less clever version of "My Best Friend's Wedding." "Made of Honor" takes an interesting concept and turns it into a mockery of love and marriage, all while presenting the film to love-starved moviegoers as some sort of fairy tale. Attempts at humor are based on the supposedly ridiculous notion that a man can be asked to perform a "woman's job." Sample jokes have characters emasculating Tom as he's questioned about his dress size or accused of being gay. There are also a bunch of prat falls - guess how many of them earn laughs?

Leaving aside the utterly unromantic and unfunny premise of this supposed romantic comedy, the characters are terribly one-dimensional. Dempsey is in full McDreamy mode with perfectly coiffed hair and a smarmy smile, but his Tom doesn't really exhibit any sort of distinguishing characteristics that make him a more desirable mate than the hottie who Hannah finds in Scotland. Likewise, Monaghan's Hannah is naggy and kind of uninteresting, making you wonder why everyone is fighting over her in the first place. Supporting characters lend no more credibility to the film; they're all subject to the romantic comedy genre's typical stereotypes. The catty bridesmaid, the fat chick, the group of supportive bros - they're all there, and none of them are funny.

In the end, "Made of Honor" commits the ultimate rom-com sin - by failing to create that feel-good sensation that can only come from watching two people fall in love. The beauty of a good chick flick is that it allows you to lose all sense of logic for an hour and a half as you watch beautiful people do romantic things. If a good romantic comedy is true love, then "Made of Honor" is a drunken one night-stand: It's only worth viewing in the dark, likely to provoke feelings of regret and unlikely to leave any lasting emotional impact.

"Made of Honor"
1 out of 5 stars
Sony
At Showcase and Quality 16