Film review: The Wedding Planner

Here comes The Wedding Planner all dressed in Armani. Something borrowed, not much new, and this orange blossom could just as easily have been called "My Best Friend’s Wedding Planner."

Because if you liked that film with Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney, you’re sure to feel at home at this one with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.

Both deal with thwarted love and nuptials. The difference is that neither Mary Fiore (Ms. Lopez) nor her best friend is getting married. She’s not even dating. The headset mike she wears is her most intimate companion.

As San Francisco’s top wedding planner, Mary can get other women to the altar but is much too busy to middle-aisle it herself.

Then a sweet pediatrician (Mr. McConaughey) falls on her. That’s right. "On," not "for," as he sweeps her out of the path of a runaway trash bin. Now there’s a romantic meet-cute for the new millennium.

Of course, they share an enchanted evening, even a dance in the park, but wouldn’t you know? He’s affianced to one of her rich society wedding clients (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras).

At about that time, her father (Alex Roco) finds her a nice young Italian immigrant (Calvin Klein model Justin Chambers) to marry. Ms. Lopez wasn’t the actress that choreographer Adam Shankman had in mind for his directorial debut. But the star of Selena sold him on her ability to handle the role of an upright, businesslike bridal consultant.

The highest-paid ($9 million) Hispanic woman in film history comes through. She’s crisp, she’s quippy, she’s mellowed by love and unlike many stars, she’s not a reed-like wraith. That wide load she totes is refreshingly, unapologetically female.

As the object of her affections, Mr. McConaughey proves again he can handle light comedy. A latecomer to the role after Brendan Fraser had to bow out, he clicks as a chick-flick hero.

This feels like an old-fashioned (as in 1930s) screwball comedy. Love is in the air. So is silliness and slapstick. Mr. McConaughey is no Patrick Swayze on the dance floor, but it doesn’t matter. The camera’s always loved him and he’s appealing in a hesitant, Jimmy-Stewart way.

Note: The Wedding Planner took the No. 1 spot in the US box office for two consecutive weeks when it was released).

But as Ms. Lopez’s would-be love interest, young Chambers with his annoying Italian accent is sadly miscast. He’s entirely too callow for the sultry pop diva who could eat his lunch. Can you believe this guy has four girls, all under the age of five?

New York University film school grads Pamela Falk and Michael Ellis wrote it. Argentinian Julio Macat (The Nutty Professor) directed the photography and Bob Ziembicki (Boogie Nights) designed the production, shot in L.A. and San Francisco.

And just so you’ll know, that old Technicolor movie playing on the park screen is Two Tickets to Broadway with Tony Martin and Janet Leigh.