27 DressesMovie Reviews

Poster art for "27 Dresses."

Gifts + Promos

The Vow Free Gift

Buy tickets & receive a FREE 3-Month Love Forecast from Astrology.com!

Fandango Bucks

Send your sweetheart the gift of movies this Valentine’s Day!

Journey Sweeps

Enter for a chance to win a trip for 2 to Nicaragua!

Interactive Oscar Ballot

Who's taking home the Oscar? Cast your vote & challenge your friends on Facebook!

Need Help?
So-so
Avg. Critic Score: 47 out of 100 Mixed or average reviews Metascore® based on all critic reviews
Information for Parents:
13 OK for kids 13+
Read Common Sense Media review

Critic scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 70
    Variety | Joe Leydon

    Frothy, funny and formulaic, 27 Dresses is a pleasantly predictable romantic comedy that sees Katherine Heigl following "Knocked Up" with smooth moves at the wheel of her first starring vehicle. Read full review

  • 63
    USA Today | Claudia Puig

    27 Dresses is like one of the many bridesmaid dresses featured in the film: frothy, predictable and over the top. Read full review

  • 58
    Entertainment Weekly | Owen Gleiberman

    27 Dresses is a movie geared to a pitch of high matrimonial-princess fever. Read full review

  • 50
    Washington Post | Ann Hornaday

    Katherine Heigl makes an official bid for America's Sweetheart in her sophomore effort, 27 Dresses, a romantic comedy that -- despite her undeniable, apple-cheeked appeal -- sags like a day-old bouquet. Read full review

  • 50
    The Hollywood Reporter | Michael Rechtshaffen

    While Heigl is terrific, this uninspired romantic comedy is considerably less so. Read full review

  • 50
    Rolling Stone | Peter Travers

    So flimsy it gives froth a bad name. Read full review

  • 50
    The New York Times | A.O. Scott

    As the director, Anne Fletcher, methodically cuts back and forth between two weddings, she makes the reasonably insightful, moderately funny point that modern American weddings, however they may strain for individuality and specialness, are all pretty much alike. The problem is that much the same could be said about modern American romantic comedies. Read full review

  • 50
    Los Angeles Times | Carina Chocano

    27 Dresses dutifully privileges its formulaic plot over its stick-figure characters, slapping a happy ending on a setup that, say, "Happiness" director Todd Solondz could have gone to town on. Read full review

  • 30
    Wall Street Journal | Joe Morgenstern

    Katherine Heigl carries 27 Dresses when all else fails, which it does with great regularity. Read full review

  • 25
    San Francisco Chronicle | Mick LaSalle

    It gets worse and worse as it goes along and finally ends just as it's becoming unbearable. Read full review

View more reviews for 27 Dresses on Metacritic

Information for Parents
Common Sense Media says OK for kids 13+ Frothy wedding romcom is fun but filled with profanity.
What Parents Need to Know Parents need to know that although this film is fairly charming and no more objectionable, content-wise, than most other Hollywood romantic comedies (that is, if you don't object to movies that fully embrace romcom clichés), there is a fairly liberal sprinkling of swear words (particularly "s--t") and drinking. The message -- that women aren't truly happy if they're always the bridesmaid but never the bride -- verges on being a little overly retro, but since the movie is so frothy, it manages to get away with that such old-fashioned thinking. Star Katherine Heigl was in the hit comedy Knocked Up, so teens (particularly girls) will likely be interested.
  • Families can talk about the film's message. What's wrong with being a bridesmaid? Is a woman truly not happy if she's never the bride? How does Hollywood contribute to this thinking? Families can also discuss weddings: Have they become, as one character says in the movie, an industry that capitalizes on romantic ideals? What truly makes a wedding special, if it's not the presents, the fancy dresses, and the over-the-top receptions?
The good stuff
  • message true0 Positive messages: Nothing too bad for the romcom genre, though there are the requisite plot-driving shenanigans: A woman pretends to be someone she's not to land a fiancé ... who happens to be the man her sister loves; a reporter deceives a woman, making her think he's writing about something else when she's actually the subject of his exposé; a woman humiliates her sister at her engagement party. The overall message (that women aren't happy unless they're the bride, instead of the bridesmaid) feels a bit dated.
What to watch for
  • violence false0 Violence: A woman slaps a man (hard) after he wrongs her; two sisters argue loudly, with one throwing objects at the other.
  • sex false0 Sex: Deep kissing and making out (on a couch and in a car); sexual innuendoes (e.g. "walk of shame" and hooking up at weddings); a woman stands in her lingerie during a dress fitting.
  • language false3 Language: A fairly generous sprinkling of the word "s--t," plus "whore" and "a--hole."
  • consumerism false0 Consumerism: Visible/referenced brands include Budweiser (a bottle appears fairly prominently in one scene) and Filofax; the dressing room of Amsale, a wedding dress designer, is shown in one scene.
  • drugsalcoholtobacco false3 Drinking, drugs and smoking: Lots of drinking at wedding receptions; in a major scene, the two leads get plastered after drinking lots of hard liquor and beer.
An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology. © Common Sense Media Inc. 2010. All rights reserved.

Looking for more reviews? Movies.com Critics Say:

Dave White

0.5

Dave White Profile See Dave White's Profile

… where everyone's a moron. Read full review See Dave White's on MOVIENAME on Movies.com

Read more movie reviews at Movies.com

27 Dresses Featured Trailers + Video Clips

Facebook Movie Fans

Fan Fandango on Facebook