"Made of Honor" is not a good movie.

It's not even a good romantic comedy, although, to be fair, I might just be saying that in response to the moment in this flick where Sydney Pollack (as star Patrick Dempsey's libidinous father) has the audacity to refer to the ending of "Casablanca" as "sissy." 

A romance comedy's got to have serious stones to back up badmouthing "Casablanca." 

"Made of Honor" does not.

However, it isn't a terrible flick. The movie's essentially just "My Best Friend's Wedding" with the gender roles reversed; a shallow Don Juan (Dempsey) is asked to serve as maid of honor for his best friend (Michelle Monaghan), only to realize he's in love with her. 

That 1997 Julia Roberts vehicle is one of the best romantic comedies of the past 20 years, and though "Made of Honor" doesn't come close to touching that one, until the last twenty-five minutes the absolute worst moniker I can throw at the flick is "aggressively mediocre." 

It's made and acted with a serviceable level of craft and everyone seems to be having a good time. I'm willing to concede that, in part, I didn't care for this flick because it's not my type of romantic comedy. I'm a "Say Anything/Broadcast News" kinda guy. Fans of "Sex and the City" or "Grey's Anatomy" will find a lot to love here, I think.

In fact, that TV comparison is my biggest issue with the first 75 minutes of the movie -- there's really nothing here that you can't see for free on TV. It's slightly naughty without being raunchy. The situations are sitcom-ready (wisecracking, gender-specific best friends, plot complications every seven and a half minutes to keep ADD-riddled viewers interested). And the surfaces (rich, socially-busy but not vocationally so) are oh-so-very shallow.

Heck, most of the cast hails from some TV show or another -- Dempsey's on "Grey's," but you've also got Mary Birdsong from "Reno 911," Busy Phillips from "ER," James Sikking (who looks horrible in this) from "Hill Street Blues," and even Kadeem Hardison from "A Different World."

It just feels slightly wasteful, even for this flick's target audience, having to pay to see something no different from the stuff on TV. I understand the idea of cinematic comfort food, but isn't it cheaper and more comforting to watch something like "Made of Honor" at home?

There is nothing in this flick that takes advantage of the big-screen luxuries; it's not visually exceptional in any way, and it doesn't push the boundaries of comedy and taste the way something like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" does. My advice to you -- if the previews for this one piqued your interest, wait for rental. You'll lose nothing in the transition.

That's the worst thing I can say about the majority of the flick, though. The movie clips along at a fast enough pace. Dempsey's not quite believable as a love-struck lothario (Jason Bateman would have knocked this out of the park), but he grew on me as the flick went on.