Stories, like bridesmaid dresses, come in all different shapes and sizes. And while the purpose of most of these dresses seems to be to insult and shame the wearer, the majority of stories out there aren’t created with the same dismal intentions. In fact, most stories exist to satisfy and emotionally fulfill their audience.

Thankfully, 27 Dresses is one of these stories.

Personal Opinion

I found this latest Katherine Heigl romantic comedy to be quite enjoyable; so much so that I actually went and saw it a second time the following night. ¹ Now, while I don’t think it’s as perfectly written as say a Chinatown or a Shawshank Redemption I did find the story to be relatively sound. There is an odd hiccup near the end of the film, but overall it seemed to flow quite smoothly.

If nothing else, they did a wonderful job delivering exactly what an audience expects these days out of a romantic comedy. From the trying on dresses montage to the karaoke scene where everyone joins in, 27 Dresses has your romantic relationship fantasies covered.

Throughlines

“Always, always, always a Bridesmaid” read the headlines. They are of course referring to Jane (Katherine Heigl), the woman with the 27 dresses (MC Throughline: Situation), who looks forward with eager anticipation towards her own special day (MC Concern: Future). She also happens to be this film’s most emphasized throughline. The other three throughlines are certainly there, but it is clear that the “Personal” throughline of Jane was most important to the filmmakers.

Jane’s blind spot is that she never takes time out to think about herself (MC Problem: Consider). Having lost her mother at an early age, Jane has assumed the role of the Great Helper — the one who, regardless of those typical wedding cynics who surround her (MC Symptom: Disbelief) still believes in the magic of weddings in the same way a child holds fast to their belief in Santa Claus (MC Response: Faith).

Directly opposing her is Kevin (James Marsden) - the penultimate wedding cynic (IC Throughline: Fixed Attitude) who actually writes the Wedding Commitment pieces in the paper that Jane so eagerly looks forward to every Sunday. Kevin is driven by his lack of faith in the whole corporate mess that has become a wedding (IC Problem: Faith). He’s been around and seen enough of them to be bothered by the fact that no one stands up against the whole ridiculous experience (IC Symptom: Oppose). Still, he manages to make his living writing articles that laud the pomp and flair that surround this billion dollar industry (IC Response: Support). Most importantly from a structural standpoint, Kevin is the one who constantly brings up the issue of saying “No” to those things you really don’t want to do (IC Issue: Closure). This has a severe impact on Jane and it is something that she eventually learns to start doing (MC Growth: Start).

And now we focus on the third throughline in this story: the relationship between the two. Kevin can’t stand the ritual; Jane loves it. Put the two together and conflict arises in the form of activities. The trying on the dresses sequence is a good example of this. Another would be the sequence in the roadside bar and consequently, the backseat of Jane’s car — all activities that bring the two potential lovers closer together (SS Throughline: Activity).

The “You and I are both alike” moment is presented nicely. During the sequence in the bar we learn that, just like Jane, Kevin’s favorite part of a wedding is the look on the groom’s face as his bride starts down the aisle. It’s a nice way of saying “you and I are just alike” without resorting to the cliched dialogue.

The Overall Story Throughline is the least explored throughline of the story and the reason why it is presented last here. In 27 Dresses, you have a group of New Yorkers who find themselves greatly concerned with weddings, or as Kevin puts it, “how the wedding industry has taken what should be a special rite of passage and transformed it” into what he considers a billion dollar corporate cash cow (OS Concern: Becoming).”

Although it is the least explored, there is a concerted effort to show the destructive nature of lying (OS Issue: Rationalization). The Dramatica defintion of Rationaliziation is an alternative explanation used to mask the real reason. This can be seen in the younger sister’s explanation of why she returned home (she said she needed time away but really she lost her job and was dumped) and in the revelation that the writer’s piece on the younger sister’s wedding was really just an excuse to write an even more entertaining article on the constant bridesmaid herself.

Granted, the Overall Story is not as well defined or explored as the other throughlines², but what does feel certain about this particular one is that it ends in failure. They mitigate it with some nice dialogue between George (Ed Burns) and Tess (Malin Akerman) at Jane’s wedding, but the fact that there was great loss can readily be seen (not only the wedding, but Tess being broke, etc.) (OS Consequence: Obtaining (or in this case, loss).

Jane tries her best to maintain the ruse that her sister is perfect for George (OS Throughline: Manipulations) but in the end, can’t resist. Still fulfilling her role as the perfect bridesmaid for her sister’s rehearsal dinner (OS Signpost 4: Playing a Role), Jane torpedoes the blessed event by bringing an end to her sister’s charade (MC Critical Flaw: Closure). Jane’s slideshow kills any chance of her sister’s happiness (OS Outcome: Failure).

Later, while helping out with last minute preparations for the benefit, Jane’s resolve grows even stronger. George, happy that he has found out the truth, tells Jane how thankful he is for her because he knows she can never say “No.” At this point he is almost speaking for Kevin³ in a last ditch effort to get Jane to really contemplate the way she approaches her life (IC Signpost 4: Contemplations).

It’s enough to send her running.

Having seen the light, Jane tells George No, she won’t help him with the benefit and runs off to be with Kevin (MC Resolve: Change). Taking a very literal “Leap of Faith,” Jane jumps onto a boat and into yet another wedding and proclaims her love for the cynical wedding hater. A year later the two wed and when asked if this day was all that she hoped, she answers, “No, it’s better.” (MC Judgment: Good).

Signpost Order

One of the most solid aspects of this storyform is the order in which the acts progress.

Main Character

• Past - her mother dying and how she’s been this way for 20 years
• How Things Are Changing - her sister arrives and takes the man of her dreams
• Future - her perfect wedding day is shattered with the careless destruction of her mother’s wedding dress
• Present - She tells Kevin that as of right now on that boat, she’s failling in love with him.

Impact Character

• Memories - forces her to remember all the weddings she has been to
• Preconscious - getting her to say “yes” at the bar
• Subconscious - the Karaoke bar scene, falling in love, ego makes him ”sexy”
• Conscious - thinks she needs to be taken care of

Relationship Story

• Doing - flirting; writing all over her Filofax
• Learning - interviewing her as she tries on all the old dresses
• Obtaining - getting each other in the car, breaking up the next day
• Understanding - the boat as she tells him that she thinks she is falling in love with him

Overall Story

• Conceiving an Idea - the sister conceiving of a possible relationship with the boss
• Developing a Plan - planning out her sister’s wedding - who to invite, what to wear, where to hold it, etc.
• Changing One’s Nature - no longer her sister but an overbearing bitch
• Playing a Role - pretending to be the perfect bridesmaid

Story Hiccup

With all that said there is still that strange moment in the story when Jane does decide to humiliate her sister in front of everyone. It comes off the heels of a strange scene between the two where her sister brings up jealousy issues between them. It’s fine, and creates motivation for the following slideshow scene, but it really comes out of nowhere. We really have no clue that these two have such an emotional battle going on between them and almost feels like it’s from another story.⁴

It is not a huge problem as it works nicely as a sort of hand-off of the impact required from Kevin’s throughline (IC Signpost 3: Subconscious), but it does take you out of the story if only for a moment. There would need to be more development of their relationship in previous acts in order to successfully pull this moment off.

But again, it’s not a showstopper.

In Conclusion

Fulfilling stories are not reserved for Oscar night or for bestseller lists. They can come from anywhere and are most appreciated when they come least suspected. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to seeing this film; the trailer, while entertaining, didn’t provoke to me excitement the way say, the trailer for There Will Be Blood did. It was with great delight then that I found 27 Dresses so engaging. Part of this can be attributed to the performances, but most of it I think lies in the clean and solid storyform that lies at the heart of this film.

Next up I’ll go over how I arrived at this particular storyform.

Footnotes for this article

1. Mainly so I could reconfirm some of the aspects of story structure that I felt were there or needed more explaining.↩
2. Romantic comedies tend to emphasize the relationship throughline over all others, after all!↩
3. This scene is a nice little handoff of Impact Character duties since there is NO way Jane could be around Kevin at that point in her emotional growth.↩
4. Credit where credit is due — The idea that it could possibly be another story wedged in there came from Chris Huntley, Dramatica theory co-creator. I had felt the weirdness of this scene as well but wasn’t exactly sure why.↩

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