Sometimes, audiences really want to like a movie. They hear about it months in advance, they liked the book and they love the cast, but the movie just falls flat. Based on The New York Times best-selling novel by Emily Giffen, “Something Borrowed” was supposed to be amazing, but the highly anticipated romantic comedy was too cheesy to be taken seriously.
Ginnifer Goodwin plays sweet Rachel, a girl who, after playing matchmaker for her two best friends, realizes only a few months before their wedding that she’s loved her friend Dex (Colin Egglesfield) all along. Her lifelong friend Darcy (Kate Hudson) has become a complete bridezilla, but underneath that crazy exterior she’s actually a complete witch. Ethan (John Krasinski) seems to be the sanest character in the story and completes every scene with his usual funny-man sarcasm. As Rachel and Darcy’s childhood friend, he’s able to take a step back and realize Rachel’s self-destructive behavior is sure to ruin the friendship she has with Dex and Darcy. In attempts to seem different from similar wedding movies (especially “My Best Friend’s Wedding”) multiple love triangles and pointless side characters complicate and blur the story into a jumbled mess.
Goodwin is the queen of the girl-next-door character in romantic comedies and viewers can’t help but root for her, even when she’s attempting to break up the engagement of her two best friends. Hudson plays the bridezilla role fantastically, probably because she played the exact same character in the cinematic classic “Bride Wars” in 2009. As much as audiences want to dislike Dex for his indecisiveness between the two girls, females may forget this when they see his spray-tanned abs and his preppy wardrobe that consists of anything with a collar. Ethan is almost forgotten in the complicated mess, but remains the most likeable and realistic character throughout.
It’s fair to say most of the blame can be placed on the director, Luke Greenfield. It’s a wonder that he was given the responsibility to take on the popular book with a starring cast when his most distinguished movies have been “The Animal” in 2001 and “The Girl Next Door” in 2004. Throughout the movie, cliché flashbacks, a choreographed dance routine to a Salt-N-Pepa song and the ever-typical epiphany followed by running in the rain are used to reveal romantic feelings. It was as if Greenfield tried to fit every cheesy romantic comedy convention into one movie, attempting anything to get a few laughs.
It’s not to say “Something Borrowed” doesn’t garner a few laughs, but they’re mostly directed at the movie, rather than with it. Despite all the hype, this romantic comedy’s poor execution was visible despite it’s attractive cast and picturesque settings. Basically, “Something Borrowed” was somewhat of a disappointment.
