Quick Review: Something Borrowed

When I saw the trailer for "Something Borrowed" my first thought was that this was yet another of those typically insipid romantic comedies, often lacking in romance, comedy or both, that drain love and humor from the world by their very existence. I didn't plan to see it. Then I read an article in Entertainment Weekly by Emily Giffin, who wrote the novel upon which the movie is based. The article isn't online so I can't quote it verbatim. Essentially she wrote about how everyone told her that once she sold the film rights, Hollywood would turn her novel into a horrible, horrible film. So she steeled herself for that eventuality. Then she visited the set a time or two...and by the end of the article she's extolling the virtues of this wonderful film and the cast and how this was such a magical experience. I took this as a challenge. This couldn't possibly be a good movie, could it?

Well, no. But I didn't intensely dislike it the way I sometimes do. The premise is stupid -- after drinking at her 30th birthday party, Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin) ends up in a cab with Dex (Colin Egglesfield), who's engaged to her best friend Darcy (Kate Hudson). Rachel admits to having a crush on Dex since they were in law school together. They kiss, and then end up spending the night together. Does this mean the wedding is off? Of course not, because then it would be a short film. Instead, Rachel pines away, because Darcy gets everything she wants because she's Darcy, or something like that. And Dex doesn't want to upset his parents by calling off things with Darcy. I guess I didn't intensely dislike this film because of the presence of John Krasinski, who plays Rachel's close friend since childhood and spends much of the film trying to get Rachel to go for what she wants for a change. He's like the gay best friend who isn't gay (although he pretends to be, for a time). And he's really cute. He needs to be shirtless more often, though. This is about the best I could find. My grade: C.