movies
Sydney Morning Herald
Monday July 13, 2009
I Do (But I Don't)(2004) Seven, noonWhere would we be without wedding planners? Probably in a more credible reality than that contrived in The Wedding Makers, a recent ABC doco on the nuptials industry. For those with more money than imagination an organiser is essential. Lauren Crandell (Denise Richards) works for a mean-spirited wedding facilitator and is so busy orchestrating other people's dreams she has no time for her own which have been fairly minimal since her marriage to the appalling Brad ended. Lauren is attracted to Nick Corina, a handsome fireman she meets at a prenuptial night of stupidity and reckless surrender she has organised for a client, despite assuming him to be the intended groom of the intense bride-to-be, Darla Tedanski (played by the aptly named Karen Cliche). Not unsurprisingly, Nick assumes Lauren is still married to Brad but they rip into a one-night stand that ticks all the boxes, as it were, even if it goes against professional ethics. It turns out Nick is the brother of Darla's groom. But it also appears the bride has been shopping around a bit within the family. Not surprisingly, everything falls neatly into a pile of meringue and bridal cake by the end but if you are hoping for something a little more than a reiteration of The Wedding Planner, forget it.The Enchanted Cottage(1945) ABC1, 1.25am (Tue)An ancient stage play, previously filmed as a silent in 1924, is reinvigorated. Oliver Bradford, a wounded and disfigured soldier, repairs to a country cottage where he had intended to honeymoon with his bride. Lonely and resigned to the fact that his fiancee, Beatrice, could never marry a man with a face like his, he finds himself warming to the maid, Laura Pennington, who's not exactly in the supermodel range as far as looks are concerned. As they draw closer together, incremental changes in their physical appearance subtly wrought by the make-up department occur. They become increasingly beautiful to one another despite the reality and eventually marry. Is the cottage blessed with an enchantment or have they discarded visual convention and cut through to the humble, humane truths of love? Dorothy McGuire and Robert Young star in a touching, if somewhat sudsy, story that at least has a whiff of charm more than can be said for most of the week's offerings.
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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