Made Of Honour

May 2 2008 by Babette Decker, The Journal

(1hr 41mins) Starring: Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd. Director: Paul Weiland

HOW soon is too soon when it comes to a remake? Two years? Five years? 10?

This is a gender-reversed revamp of the 1997 romantic comedy My Best Friend’s Wedding, about wealthy, bed-hopping 30-something Tom who realises, almost too late, he is in love with the only woman he hasn’t slept with – best pal Hannah.

Invariably, this emotional lightning bolt strikes at the moment she is preparing to walk up the aisle ... with another man.

Paul Weiland’s film doesn’t stray too far from the original, except for the climactic nuptials in the breathtaking loch-side setting of Dunvegan Castle on Isle of Skye. A Highland Games sequence is a good excuse to dress leading man Patrick Dempsey in a revealing mini-kilt.

He plies his natural charm to sidestep obvious shortcomings in the script – weak characterisation, a lack of dramatic tension – and win our sympathy.

Luckily, his rival for the heroine’s affections is devoid of personality. Och aye the no, no, no!