2 Gus Heads out of 4

Starring:Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney, Jeremy Sheffield

Running time:1 hour, 25 minutes

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‘Wedding Date’ follows typical romantic comedy rules

Poor Kat. Her younger sister Amy is getting married, and not only does she have to deal with the family pressures of being a single business woman in her 30’s, but her ex-fianc is the best man. And she is still in love with him.

No wonder she hired a hooker.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, “The Wedding Date” is here to remind all who are alone that love can be found in the unlikeliest of places – at least it’s supposed to. Starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney, this film, directed by Clare Kilner, is not only full of false hope but it is too formulaic for its own good.

Messing plays Kat Ellis, an anal retentive nervous wreck who hires a male escort, Nick Mercer (Mulroney), after reading an article in The New York Times Magazine. She wants him to pose as her boyfriend and date to her sister’s wedding in order to make her former flame Jeffrey (Jeremy Sheffield) jealous.

The date did not come cheap, costing her $6,000 out of her 401K. Bit by bit, the plan works and the family is duped but what they did not account for was the blossoming attraction between them.

The cut and dry storyline follows the exact direction and romantic comedy recipe Hollywood studios have incessantly duplicated this last decade (read:since that other flick about a prostitute and business exec).

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Chances are you have seen it before:the couple is thrown together by impossible means, which is preceded later by a budding attraction between the two. Then there’s the moment where someone screws up and the non-relationship is perceived over. Eventually all is forgiven and forgotten, and they live happily-ever.

Messing is mildly humorous as the overly anxious Kat, but she fails to develop past her early jabs at her family. This role for her is far too similar to her title character on “Will & Grace.” Kat is too neurotic and complains too much of her life to actually live it.

Meant only to be a tool in this crazy little game called love, Mulroney’s gigolo character has a smug, holier than thou attitude throughout the entire film. Every woman has the love life she wants, he reasons, implying that once Kat is ready to let go of her miserably single lifestyle, she will have the boyfriend – and, eventually, husband – she has always wanted. Mulroney’s performance is monotone, but his character is the only staple in this movie.

“The Wedding Date” is decently sweet, but it’s more saccharine than sugar. Its simple plot and simple acting pull off the mundane plot, but a film should really have to work more for the moviegoer buck.