AFTER getting Knocked Up in one of last year's best-received comedies, Katherine Heigl takes time off from playing aspiring surgeon Izzy in TV's Grey's Anatomy to go to a wedding.

Unhappily, it's not hers.

Jane (Heigl) is always the bridesmaid and never the bride in this so-so romantic comedy from the screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada. As a result she has wardrobe stuffed with 27 bridesmaids' dresses, which she's worn at other people's weddings.

How very sad, you might be thinking.

Newspaper reporter Kevin (James Marsden) thinks otherwise - he knows a good story when he spots one.

His cynicism about weddings make you think that Jane won't like very much what he writes, although you just know the two are going to end up together.

There are obstacles. First, Jane has to get over her crush on her boss (Edward Burns). But the arrival of her younger sister Tess (Malin Akerman) puts a spanner in the works. She catches his eye and then asks sister Jane to help plan their wedding.

27 Dresses is as nice as Jane, lacking the edge of The Devil Wears Prada and the bawdiness of Knocked Up. Heigl makes a pleasant enough heroine, although I did tire of her relentless good humour as Marsden adds another goodlooking hero to his catalogue after playing Prince Charming in Enchanted.

Stars: Katherine Heigl, James Marsden, Malin Akerman, Judy Greer, Edward Burns.
Running time: 110 mins
Rating: Three stars