"27 Dresses" a bad fit for Katherine Heigl

Jerky boss? Check. Sardonic best friend? Check (played by Judy Greer). Scene in which everybody takes part in an impromptu golden oldie sing-along? Check. (Here it's Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets.")

Just as McKenna's script brings absolutely nothing new to the wedding movie table, matters aren't helped any by Anne Fletcher's flat, pedestrian direction. The former choreographer who made her directorial debut with the inner-city dance drama "Step Up," fails to lend this New York story (filmed extensively in Rhode Island) a much-needed visual shot of vitality.

While Peter James' camera clearly loves Heigl and the actress looks to have a promising motion picture career ahead of her, "27 Dresses," with its recycled sentiments and empty gestures, won't be the one to build on that "Knocked Up" momentum.

Here, she and Marsden do what they can to work with a chemistry that feels dictated rather than organic, but at the end of the day, they're hopelessly stuck with hand-me-down material that is really beginning to look and feel its age.

Cast:

Jane: Katherine Heigl

Kevin: James Marsden

Tess: Malin Akerman

Casey: Judy Greer

George: Edward Burns

Hal: Brian Kerwin

Director: Anne Fletcher; Screenwriter: Aline Brosh McKenna; Producers: Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Jonathan Glickman; Executive producers: Bobby Newmyer, Becki Cross Trujillo, Michael Mayer, Erin Stam; Director of photography: Peter James; Production designer: Shepherd Frankel; Music: Randy Edelman; Costume designer: Catherine Marie Thomas; Editor: Priscilla Nedd Friendly.