The Decoy Bride

The Decoy Bride (2011)
Rated PG

Starring: David Tennant, Kelly Macdonald, Alice Eve, Dylan Moran

If you liked: Runaway Bride, Something Borrowed, Any highly predictable romantic comedy

The Story: A famous American movie star (Eve) and a famous British author (Tennant) are trying to avoid the media frenzy, and have a quiet and unpublicized wedding. To achieve this, they find the most remote location possible, and even go as far as performing a fake ceremony to get the media off their back. Hiring a local to be a stand-in for the "fake" wedding, but the sparks start to become real...

The Good: I'm gonna be honest, I'm a big David Tennant (Doctor Who, Harry Potter) fan. The guy is very good at playing the lovable, fault-less good guy. So I was very excited to see this movie when I heard he was in it. The man does not disappoint! Tennant is very convincing, as is his costar, played by Kelly Macdonald.

The supporting cast is largely strong in terms of backing up the main cast, which helps keep the story engaging for sure. The story is definitely a predictable, cookie-cutter romance, but it has a lot of heart, sass, and humor that sets itself apart from many similar movies. On top of that, the setting of the movie is gorgeous, especially on a high def television.

He's a fancy lad.

The Bad: While most of the characters were very engrossing, I found myself unconvinced by the acting of Alice Eve, especially considering she's supposed to play a famous actress. That's just....wrong! One weak link can definitely break a movie, and she certainly doesn't help. Moving to the GOOD actors: the supporting cast is great, but some of them are relatively big names who are only in maybe two scenes. I felt that these folks could definitely developed into a more engrossing side-story given enough time.

I'm getting nit-picky here, because this is a cookie-cutter romantic comedy, but at the same time, this is a cookie-cutter romantic comedy. In terms of originality, there isn't a whole lot here, and within five minutes, any casual movie-goer will be able to call the ending. Either way, its worth a view if you have Netflix.

Verdict: 6.5 out of 10
Good, not perfect. Could be worse, but not super original. Give it a shot if you're into fun, corny romance movies.