Something Borrowed For Sure in Familiar 'Made of Honor'

May 2, 2008— -- Though he has the requisite charm for a romantic comedy, McDreamy has picked a pretty nightmarish project to showcase his talents.

"Made of Honor," starring Patrick Dempsey as a serial womanizer who realizes the error of his ways when his best friend and true love is about to get married, is predictable, generic and only occasionally mildly funny.

Though Dempsey has some of the funnier moments and Michelle Monaghan ("The Heartbreak Kid") is likable as the object of his affections, the story feels so much like a retread, you could swear you'd seen it before. It might as well be called "My Best Friend's Scottish Wedding."

It opens in 1998 when Tom (Dempsey) is at a college party disguised as Bill Clinton. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect is his dead-on imitation of Clinton's voice (if in fact it's him, which is hard to tell since he's wearing a mask). He meets Hannah (Monaghan) when he mistakes her for her wilder roommate Monica. After meeting cute, the two become friends.

Flash-forward a decade, and both are successful careerists in New York. She works in an art museum. He's the inventor behind the cup sleeve, which nets him 10 cents each time a cup of coffee is purchased. Needless to say, he's a rich man.

He has a list of rules such as "no back-to-backs," meaning he can't see a woman he has slept with two days in a row. Hannah rolls her eyes but remains his staunch friend. They spend Sundays together, as companionable as an old married couple. When she refers to a restaurant as "that new trendy place that's next to that Greek place that we hate that used to be that Thai place that we loved," he knows exactly what she means. They eat off each other's plates. This is movie shorthand telling us they're meant for each other.

When Hannah goes to Scotland on a business trip, Tom realizes how much she means to him and resolves to tell her. But she returns with a strapping Scotsman (Kevin McKidd) on her arm and a huge diamond on her finger. She asks Tom to be her maid of honor; his buddies convince him he can disrupt the wedding from the inside and win Hannah over. High jinks ensue.

Once the action switches to the Scottish Highlands, there are a few funny moments. There also are some ridiculously silly slapstick sequences that can be seen coming way in advance. It turns out that the Scotsman is an impressive fellow with no major character flaws to expose. Instead, Tom must overcome his commitment phobia and express his emotions to Hannah. As for when he chooses to do it, imagine the most predictable scenario.

"Made of Honor" has some funny moments, and it keeps your attention, but it's certainly not worth rushing out to the multiplex and paying top dollar for. Catch it on TV on a lazy afternoon with little else to do.