The Wedding Date

The Wedding Date (2005)
Warner Home Video
Cast: Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, Amy Adams, Jack Davenport
Extras: Audio Commentary, Deleted Scenes, Debra Messing Interview, Photo Gallery
Rating:

Debra Messing plays Kat Ellis, a woman who hires expensive, but attractive male escort, Nick Mercer (Dermot Mulroney) to take to her sister's wedding in London, as she attempts to impress her family in the romantic comedy "The Wedding Date." Kat spends most of her time trying to please others in her family and deal with their disappointments of her not being the first to marry, thanks to a broken heart from her former ex-fiancé, who also happens to be the best man in her sister's wedding party. If that doesn't complicate things enough, Kat tries to sort out, what appears to be genuine feelings for Nick, eventually leading Kat to decide to finally put her own needs first as the "romance" between her and Nick begins to grow over their weekend spent together.

Although "The Wedding Date" has its cute moments, I found it to play a little too much off of the usual clichés of this genre, therefore leaving you with a sense of "been there, done that" which only makes for an average performance at best.

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment delivers another solid DVD transfer with this anamorphic presentation of "The Wedding Date." Deep black levels were top notch and helped to provide terrific detail throughout the presentation. Colors were well saturated, which brought the lush greens of the English country-side to life. There were some minor compression issues noticed in the form of grain that became visible during bright scenes. I did feel that some of the interior scenes were shot with a little too much light, leaving a somewhat harsh look that gave nowhere for this relatively minor symptom to hide, but overall wasn't considered much of a distraction. Flesh tones were only slightly affected by this, still managing to appear quite natural throughout the presentation.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack was appropriately mixed to provide a good presentation throughout. This was most notable during various parties and gatherings included in the film, where the surround channels provided good ambience of the crowd's chatter and applause. Dialogues were pleasant, appearing quite natural in reproduction, which contributed to a good overall soundstage.

Extras for "The Wedding Date" include an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a featurette-style "Interview with Debra Messing" and a photo gallery. A film synopsis and biographies, in the form of text, are also included among the extras on this DVD.