I've come to the conclusion I adore actress Katherine Heigl. Not only is the star of "Grey's Anatomy" and Knocked Up unbelievably pretty (her entire look at last year's Oscars made me drool in red dress envy), she's also a remarkably winning comedian who captivates like almost no other. She's a star, and while I'm not going to say she's ever going to win an Academy Award watching her is such an undeniable pleasure the fact her range is probably rather modest isn't even the slightest problem.

Good thing, because without her the romantic comedy 27 Dresses would probably be a gigantic waste of time. This story of 27-time bridesmaid who finally meets her match in the form of a plucky New York reporter (James Marsden) doesn't have a single original thread anywhere within its corseted bodice, and if I wasn't so fond of the woman I doubt I'd have given the picture anything close to a recommendation.

With her, however, the film ahs moments of such lively joy and wildly wonderful enthusiastic abandoned it's hard not to admit to enjoying yourself. More, Heigl and Marsden (an actor who deserves a serious re-evaluation after his charming turns in Hairspray, Enchanted and here) have rapturous chemistry, both of them playing of one another with such adoringly intoxicating ease I could swear they've been doing it forever.

The rest of the movie is an overly-familiar bore. Writer Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada) follows the usual clichés from start to finish with no apparent interest in trying to shake things up, director Anne Fletcher (Step Up) staging things in a routinely predictable manner that's really rather boring. From the very first second I knew what was going to happen, when it was going to occur and how it was going to come to a close, and anyone picking up the DVD is going to feel the same before the opening credits even get a chance to finish their crawl.

And there are other problems here. Edward Burns costars and is as bland (if still ravishingly sexy) as ever, while Malin Ackerman (playing Heigl's selfish sister) doesn't display an ounce of the whimsically audacious charm she showcased so beautifully in the otherwise insipid Ben Stiller remake The Heartbreak Kid. More, the darn thing is easily a full half hour too long, some scenes played out to such excruciating length they virtually last forever.

Still, there are scenes of bliss amidst the banality. A montage of picture taking and dress wearing is surprisingly delightful, while an early set piece featuring Jane going back-and-forth between two different weddings on the same night in a taxi cab is downright magical. Add in the fact Heigl makes every scene she's in a winner no matter how lame it appears on the surface and yourselves a movie that might just be the perfect option for a date night rental.

Fox's DVD of 27 Dresses comes with a multitude of short, relatively cute featurettes. There is also a collection of Deleted Scenes that are surprisingly better than the usual norm, an additional featurette looking at the studio's upcoming Cameron Diaz/Ashton Kutcher comedy perfectly dreadful looking What Happens in Vegas and, of course, the Theatrical Trailer. The best of the bunch is a delightfully cute short on a New York event called "The Running of the Brides" featuring a whole gaggle of women going all out for the perfect wedding dress. Otherwise, the features on this disc aren't exactly what I would call stellar.