Made of Honor (Made of Honour in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and Australia) is a 2008 American romantic comedy film directed by Paul Weiland and written by Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan, and Harry Elfont. The film stars Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, and Sydney Pollack, in his final screen appearance prior to his death less than a month after the film s release.

The plot follows a lifelong playboy who falls in love with his best friend, only to have her get engaged and ask him to be her maid of honor. It was released by Columbia Pictures in the United States on May 2, 2008. The film garnered negative reviews from critics who criticized the formulaic humor and script, but grossed $106.4 million worldwide against a $40 million budget making it a box office success. It was released on DVD on September 16, 2008.

Plot

On Halloween night, 1998, at Cornell University, Tom Bailey, Jr., dressed as Bill Clinton, slips into bed with his pre-arranged date, Monica. It turns out to be her roommate Hannah. Tom likes her because she is honest and does not fling herself at him. Ten years later, they are best friends. He is wealthy, as he invented the coffee collar and gets a dime every time it is used. Tom is with a different girl every week, while Hannah focuses on her career at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He is very content with life, and thinks she is too.

After taking Hannah to his father s sixth wedding, she tells Tom she must go to Scotland for work. He discovers that without her, being with a different woman week after week is not fulfilling. Realizing he loves her, he decides to confess his feelings when she gets back. Upon returning, Hannah surprisingly introduces Colin, a wealthy Scot, as her fiancé. She asks Tom to be her maid of honor and Tom decides to do it upon his other friends advice, to spend time with her, convincing her to marry him instead.

He is introduced to the other three bridesmaids. One is Melissa, Hannah s cousin and a disgruntled ex. She hates him even more when she doesn t get to be the maid of honor. So, when Tom throws the bridal shower, Melissa sabotages it by giving him a business card for entertainment, which turns out to be for a sex toy party. Hannah gets upset and leaves. Again seeking advice from his other friends, they teach him what a maid of honor must remember. The next day, he takes Hannah shopping, impressing her. Afterwards, she tells him she is moving to Scotland with Colin after the wedding.

After arriving in Scotland at Eilean Donan Castle, Tom realizes he is running out of time to stop Hannah. He meets Colin s family and must participate in a variant of the Highland Games, in which the groom competes to prove himself worthy of his bride. He also competes, but loses in the last round. Tom takes Hannah out for a walk, planning to tell her his feelings. The other bridesmaids interrupt for Hannah s bachelorette party. On her Hen Night, Hannah sells her kisses for change in a pub. As she goes around, Tom kisses Hannah. Though it starts as a peck on the cheek, it becomes a passionate kiss.

That night, when Hannah tries to ask Tom about the kiss, her drunk cousin is in his room, trying to have sex with him. Hannah leaves and Tom runs after her. Then he knocks on her door, pleading for her to let him in. She refuses and asks about the kiss. He tells her he knows he, not Colin, is the one for her. She refuses to cave in and instead tells Tom she will still marry Colin the next day. He cannot watch Hannah and Colin get married so he decides to go home.

When questioned about Tom s sudden departure shortly before the wedding, Hannah informs Colin he is just afraid of losing her. On the way home, Tom realizes that he must stop the wedding and goes back on horseback. Just as the priest asks for objections, Tom is sent flying with his horse and through the chapel doors. Seeing her best friend on the floor, Hannah rushes to him. As he struggles to stand up, he tells her that he loves her more than anything and that she should marry him. They then share a kiss. Hannah tells Colin that she is very sorry and that he is the perfect guy, just not for her. Colin s aunt then tells Colin, in Scots, to punch Tom, which he does immediately.

Hannah and Tom eventually get married. Melissa catches the bouquet and then links arms with Tom s dad. On their honeymoon, Tom turns on the light just to make sure he has got the right girl and Hannah replies You do . They kiss and Hannah turns off the light, Tom saying Oh, Monica and Hannah replies Oh, Bill.

Cast

• Patrick Dempsey as Tom
• Michelle Monaghan as Hannah
• Kevin McKidd as Colin
• Kathleen Quinlan as Joan
• Sydney Pollack as Thomas Sr.
• Chris Messina as Dennis
• Busy Philipps as Melissa
• Christine Barger as PsychoBlogger
• Kevin Sussman as the tiny shorts guy
• Richmond Arquette as Gary
• Kadeem Hardison as Felix

Production

The filming schedule was 26 days to accommodate Patrick Dempsey s commitments to Grey s Anatomy. Dempsey was part of the project before the director was chosen and agreed to Weiland after seeing an early cut of his coming-of-age film Sixty-Six. The scene where Dempsey juggles plates was not in the script and was added on the day.

Eilean Donan castle, famously the home of Connor MacLeod in the Highlander film, was used for exterior shots of one of the McMurray family homes.

Release

Made of Honor was originally rated R for some sex-related material , but was later rated PG-13 for sexual content and language . In Australia, it is rated M. In Sweden, the Swedish National Board of Film Censors rated the uncut version as suitable for all ages.

In the UK the British Board of Film Certification (BBFC) rated it a 12 for Moderate Language and Sex References . When released on DVD, it was rated 12 for Strong Sex References .

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, the film grossed $15.5 million in 2,729 theaters in the United States and Canada, averaging $5,679 per theater, and ranking #2 at the box office behind Iron Man. It grossed a total of $46 million in North American and $60 million internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $106 million, against its $40 million budget.

Made of Honor was released on DVD and Blu-ray on September 16, 2008.

Critical response

Made of Honor received negative reviews from critics, and was called a gender swapped version of My Best Friend s Wedding. On Rotten Tomatoes it has a 16% approval rating based on 126 reviews, with an average score of 4.1/10. The site s critical consensus reads: Sharp performances by Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan can t save this forgettable, formulaic chick flick from its comic failings. On Metacritic, the film holds a score of 37 out of 100, based on 25 critics, indicating generally unfavorable reviews . Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade B+ on scale of A to F.

Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club gave the film an overall C grade, giving credit to the performances of Pollack and Monaghan for being surprisingly good in a by-the-numbers romantic story alongside Dempsey displaying plastic sincerity in his role, saying: It s telling that he s followed by a string of sidekicks apparently created to make him less bland by comparison. The New York Times Stephen Holden commended the punch-up of the script for adding tart satirical flavors to a cotton-candy formula and the screen presence of both Dempsey and Monaghan, highlighting the latter for giving enough sweetness to satisfy the cotton-candy addicts. Barbara Vancheri of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette praised the utilization of the picturesque, romantic Scotland setting and the cast s willingness to perform, despite devolving into slapstick comedy and tacking on a 1940s film ending. She concluded by explaining its release alongside Iron Man saying: Made of Honor is made to order for women or couples looking for an alternative to the comic-book adaptation and for a romcom with such obvious and memorable film forebears, it s still breezy fun.

Elizabeth Weitzman from the New York Daily News gave credit to Dempsey for his comedic timing over material containing snickering emasculation and director Paul Weiland for his brisk pace direction over a lazy script from three screenwriters who take the low road every time. She concluded that: The cinematic equivalent of a cookie-cutter wedding, Made of Honor ultimately feels a little depressing. Philip Marchand of the Toronto Star noted how the film s content contains numerous references to insecure masculinity , saying that: It s often a problem to determine when a movie is satirizing characters from a superior height and when it s sharing the mental level of those characters. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian said about the film beyond its gibberish title: Everything else about it is plasticky and nonsensical with no one behaving like a real carbon-based life-form. Monaghan s charm is stifled, and a classy cameo from Sydney Pollack as Dempsey s scapegrace dad goes for nothing. A film to leave at the altar. Ed Gonzalez from Slant Magazine called the film soul-crushingly predictable , lamenting the misuse of Pollack s ostensible prestige only for it to be diminished by Kevin Sussman s character, unfunny sex jokes, an irritating soundtrack and defamation of Scottish people.

The film was nominated for Choice Movie – Bromantic Comedy at the 2008 Teen Choice Awards, but ultimately lost to What Happens in Vegas.

Year	2008
ReleaseDate	2008-05-02
RuntimeMins	101
RuntimeStr	1h 41min
Plot	A guy in love with an engaged woman tries to win her over after she asks him to be her maid of honor.
Awards	Awards, 1 win & 1 nomination
Directors	Paul Weiland
Writers	Adam Sztykiel, Deborah Kaplan, Harry Elfont
Stars	Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan, Kevin McKidd
Produced by	Marty Adelstein,Callum Greene,Aaron Kaplan,Ryan Kavanaugh,Tania Landau,Amanda Lewis,Neal H. Moritz,Sean Perrone
Music by	Rupert Gregson-Williams
Cinematography by	Tony Pierce-Roberts
Film Editing by	Richard Marks
Casting By	Justine Arteta,Kim Davis-Wagner,Nina Gold
Production Design by	Kalina Ivanov
Art Direction by	Sue Chan,Mark Scruton
Set Decoration by	Melissa M. Levander
Costume Design by	Penny Rose
Makeup Department	Elena Arroy,Marjorie Durand,Dena Fayne,Sean Flanigan,Jane Galli,Suzy Mazzarese-Allison,Lori McCoy-Bell,Roz Music,Keith Sayer,Jan Sewell,Vivienne Simpson,Linda Vallejo,Alex Volpe,Merribelle Anderson,Beverley Binda,Richard De Alba,Ely Jim,Yesim Shimmy Osman,Colette Slattery
Production Management	Erica Bensly,Dustin Bernard,Callum Greene,Gabrielle Mahon,Adam Moos,Rachel Neale
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director	Oscar Beuselinck,Vebe Borge,Mark Egerton,Bruce Franklin,David Garfath,Alexander H. Gayner,Takahide Kawakami,Leah King,Terence Madden,Conte Mark Matal,Adam Byles,Courtney Getter,Tudor Jones,Andrew Mannion,Candy Marlowe,Kirk Michael Rogers,Kathryn Francis Tucker
Art Department	Alan Bailey,John Bush,Robert J. Carlyle,Amanda Carroll,Matthew Cavaliero,Denise Ciarcia,Gary Crosby,Mick Cukurs,Dave Fisher,David Galvan,Joseph Kevin Garcia,Joseph Genna,William G. Hall,Phil Harvey,Terry Heggarty,Michael Klingerman,Tom Martin,Cynthia Martinez,James Mazzola,Lyvan A. Munlyn,Roderick Nunnally,James F. Orendorff,Eugenio Quintero,Mark Scruton,Andrew Settle,Gary Stel,Frank White III,Hunter Woo,Fred Apolito,Louise Begbie,Tessa Brophy,Roy Chapman,John Coven,Mike Cuddy,Emma Davis,Jill Deibler,Brian Ferguson,Dean Fisher,Peter James,Dougie Lankston,Ashanti Ngozi,Paul Pitalo,Joseph Proscia,Richard Selway,Amy Short,Eric Steinway,Darrin Sullivan,Adam Tankell
Sound Department	Ulrika Akander,Jason Bennett,Brad Brock,Michael Broomberg,Clive Copland,Rich Crescenti,Joe Dorn,Dennis Drummond,Ann Ducommun,Jeffrey J. Haboush,Gary A. Hecker,Chuck Homyak,Larry Hopkins,Jonathan Klein,Howard London,James Morioka,Steve Nelson,Beauxregard Neylen,Jordan O Neill,Michele Perrone,Greg P. Russell,D. Chris Smith,Roger V. Stevenson,Tim Tuchrello,Dan Yale,Mark Yardas,Mark Agostino,Joseph R. Branca,Pamela Kahn,Nick Kray,Chris Murphy,Kyle Rochlin,Michael Scott
Special Effects by	Stuart Brisdon,Lynn Garrido,Mark Haddenham,Tez Palmer,Jake Valdez,Nigel Wilkinson
Visual Effects by	Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor,Casey Allen,Richard Baillie,Angela Barson,Guy Botham,Stuart Bullen,Helen Clare,Michael Elson,Benedict Gillingham-Sutton,Martin Hobbs,Max Horton,Les Hunter,Ryan Hutchings,William Hyler,Chris Ingersoll,Henry Jefferson,Benjamin Kutsko,Toby Langley,Daniel Mellitz,Thomas Nittmann,Brian Nugent,Anthony Peck,Ben Perrott,Steve J. Sanchez,Fani Vassiadi,Edson Williams,Pat Wintersgill,Ryan Zuttermeister,Paul Alexiou,Matthew Bristowe,Trent Claus,Marissa Fraering,Brian Hanable,Warwick Hewett,Begoña Lopez,David Swift,Aaron Taylor,Lee Tibbetts,Sean Wallitsch
Stunts	Evans Brown,John Evans Brown,Jake Cox,Tom Cox,Andy Dylan,Gregor Edwards,Brad Graiff,Richard Hansen,Thomas Robinson Harper,Stephen King,Camilla Naprous,Daniel Naprous,Gerard Naprous,Ernie F. Orsatti,Camilla Naprous
Camera and Electrical Department	Alan Almond,Kenneth J. Appel,Bryan Ashford,John Bailie,John Beran,Brian Carmichael,Henry Cline,Scott Crabbe,Glen Engels,Kevin Estrada,John Ferguson,Tommy Finch,Damiano Fusca,Peter N. Green,Rob Greenlea,Richard Guinness Jr.,Peter Iovino,John Janusek,Giles Keyte,Jamie Knight,Tucker Korte,Michael Listorti,Trevor Loomis,Stephen MacDougall,Rick Maddux,Patrick McGrath,John J. Moers,David Morgan,Patrick Murray,Kelly Paul,Keith Perry,Darren Quinn,Dominic Rau,P. Scott Sakamoto,Garth Sewell,John P. Shine,Andrew Speller,Alf Tramontin,Toby Tyler Jr.,John Velez,Rebecca Venezia,Neal Wilde,Victor Alvarez,Mark Carlile,Adam Dale,Danny Espey,Steve Finberg,Will Finch,Eugene Grobler,Glen Holland,Therese Hvattum,Jordan C. Kadovitz,Wayne King,James Klayer,Diego Mariscal,Ryan Nelson,Jason Parrillo,Nick Pearson,Lance Rieck,Joseph Sciretta,Brian Scotti,Tony Skinner,Sam Smith,Jeff Stewart,Justin Stroh,Pat Sweeney,Christopher Webber,Glyn Williams
Animation Department	Noel Donnellon,Paul Donnellon,David Z. Obadiah,Andrew White
Casting Department	Cate Engel,Barbara Harris,Robert Sterne,Rose Wicksteed,Renee Godbout,Jeni Thornell,Karen Wood
Costume and Wardrobe Department	Jeannine Bourdaghs,Careen Fowles,Natalia Georgiadou,Gordana Golubovich,Rebecca Hale,Caroline Hickman,Jimmy Jay,Renee Michelle Levy,Jessica Pazdernik,Niki Spina,Saeyoung Vu,Dana Casey,Tom Hornsby
Editorial Department	Mo Henry,Max Horton,John Persichetti,Giselle Ponce,Mathieu Reid,Debra L. Tennant,Darin Wooldridge,Trudy Yee,Zahida Bacchus
Location Management	Tom Crooke,France Myung Fagin,Stephen Kardell,Duncan Muggoch,Adam Richards,Thomas J. Whelan,Mara Alcaly,Ellen Athena Catsikeas,Jean Chien,Mike Grosky,Matt Jones,Richard Kathlean,Yorgo Stathopoulos
Music Department	Nick Angel,Mark Berrow,Thomas Bowes,David Butterworth,Tony Clarke,Isobel Griffiths,Skaila Kanga,Alastair King,Matthew Margeson,Everton Nelson,Tom Pigott Smith,Daniel Pinder,Steven Price,Ryan Rubin,Christopher Willis,Nick Wollage,Warren Zielinski,Rachel Bolt,Chris Clad,Tony Clarke,Dave Foster,Alastair King,Steven Kofsky,Abhay Manusmare
Script and Continuity Department	Marion Tumen,Liz West
Transportation Department	Martin Birmingham,Michael J. Birnkrant,Ron Kunecke,Dave Robling,Brian Stackhouse,Jeff Woodward,Ian Yea,Sean Barclay,Gary Birmingham,Jimmy Carruthers,Alan Emanuel,Lee Isgar,Barry Stevenson,Tom Sweeney,Russ Tolliver
Additional Crew	Kirsten Anderson,Hannah Banks,Lorri Bearbower,Randolph Bookman,Maurice Cabrera,Francesca Castellano,Melodey Colyer,Suzan Crowley,Robin Demetriou,Fiona Dwyer,John Eccleston,Manrico Erasmi,Rachael Lin Gallaghan,Melissa Gelernter,Jordan Gilbert,J. Elizabeth Ingram,Christopher Inwood,Amy Irvine,Sherry Kecskes,Deborah Leakey,Meghan Lechette,Jennifer Levett,Amy Lo,Lisa Madden,Shea Marcus,Jerie McBride,J.C. Mendoza,Adam Milano,Alexandra Mircheff,Sanaz Missaghian,Monica Muehlhause-Horn,Jeni Mulein,Heather Noble,James Payton,Annie Penn,Lora Price,Anneke Scott,Ozzie Scott,Spooky Stevens,Katharine Tidy,Damon Tinker,Marion Tumen,Sarah Turner,Hunter Venable,Dan Watt,Bree Yenalavitch,James Bednark,Bonnie Belknap,Patrick Bevilacqua,Osama Chami,Michael Chochol,Florence Chung,Joel Clarke,Diarmuid Coghlan,Lisa Falzarano,Elton Farla,Michael J. Fisher,Polly Fletcher,Karin M. Gaarder,Jackie Gilbey,Gale Hansen,Hattie Harper,Will Haynes,Jennifer Herman,Jean Huynh,Al Hyacinth,Dave Kasubowski,Phillip Leung,Jennifer Marshall,Randy McKenney,Barnaby Miller,Tamra Natisin,Paula J. Newman,Judy Pursley,Moira Quirk,William F. Reed,Jonathan Russek,Megan Schmidt,Dave Scott,Karen Shane,Scott Sheldon,Keleigh Slaight,B.J. Smith,Andy Stephens,Géraldine Sérafini,Eric Valentino Jr.,Jo Wallett
Thanks	Sydney Pollack
Genres	Comedy, Romance
Companies	Columbia Pictures, Relativity Media, Original Film
Countries	USA, UK
Languages	English, Gaelic
ContentRating	PG-13
ImDbRating	5.8
ImDbRatingVotes	72095
MetacriticRating	37
Keywords	maid of honor,misogynist,panties,penis,underwear