a close reading of The Wedding Date (2005)

from Dermot Mulroney's #1 fan (me). plus my fancy puppy chow recipe!

Today we’ve got another episode of Rom Coms Revisited: exploring the good/bad/ugly of early 2000s rom coms. This time, one of my personal faves.

The Wikipedia synposis: The Wedding Date is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by Clare Kilner and starring Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, and Amy Adams. Based on the 2002 novel Asking for Trouble by Elizabeth Young, the film is about a single woman who hires a male escort to pose as her boyfriend at her sister's wedding in order to dupe her ex-fiancé, who dumped her a few years prior. 

The basics: Debra Messing’s Kat Ellis hires Dermot Mulroney’s Nick Mercer to pose as her boyfriend and attend her sister’s wedding, paying him $6,000 in cash. I love Kat’s practicality here. She needs this to go well, so she hired a professional. And he’s definitely a professional. When they land in London, a perfectly dressed Nick reassures a very nervous Kat by saying, “Don’t worry - your ex-fiance will wish he never left you, and your family will think we’re in love”.

We don’t see very many positive depictions of sex workers, in film or elsewhere. But here, when it’s Dermot Mulroney, sex work is categorized as acceptable - charming even. When it’s other people (especially marginalized women in the real world), it’s labeled immoral, indecent, and wrong. In a display of serious cognitive dissonance, Kat wants to draw a line between “real” sex work and what she hired Nick for. When he mentions “If you want to be intimate, we talk money first”, Kat blurts out “Believe me that won’t be an issue, I find the idea of sex for money morally repugnant”, quickly followed by an “I’m sorry. No offense.” Sure Jan.

Now, as for why she hired him. Well - her piece of shit ex-fiance (who unexpectedly/unceremoniously left her two years ago) will be at the wedding. And she can’t bear the thought of showing up alone.

In many ways, Nick’s work could be described as fulfilling fantasy. And in Kat’s fantasy, the focus is less on sex and more on supportive partnership. Nick is reassuring and dependable. He sees Kat for who she is and appreciates it. He understands her fears and works to mitigate them. He tells her she doesn’t need to keep apologizing. This man seems like he’s been to therapy.

But don’t worry - there’s also a lot of high quality sexy stuff sprinkled throughout.

here he’s saying “He’s going to be so sorry he lost you. So stop worrying. Forget the past. Forget the pain. And remember what an incredible woman you are.” Like, ma’am!!