Sis is getting married and Kat (Debra Messing) doesn't want to show up to the wedding solo. So she hires a professional escort out of the yellow pages to go with her, pretend to be her boyfriend, and make the best man—who also happens to be her ex—jealous in The Wedding Date. It's an appealing retread but nonetheless a retread.

A star vehicle for Messing, she is endearing, cute, and winning, and Dermot Mulroney as the escort has just the right amount of ambivalence to keep this from being too sugary. Their chemistry works, but this story is a tired, worn-out one that we've seen time and again. Since you know exactly where it's headed, you sort of feel like saying, "Let's just hurry this up and get there."

The 1.85:1 anamorphic transfer depicts the expressive wardrobes and pristine springtime country florals nicely, and the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is satisfactory but has no great shakes. Extras are a snooze, with some deleted scenes, a commentary, and an average this-was-great memory-lane featurette from Messing. Amy Adams (of Catch Me if You Can fame) plays the charmingly self-absorbed sister, and Sarah Parish, as friend TJ, injects some much-needed sass into the mix.

At only 79 minutes, it's a refreshingly short ride, but that's the best thing I can say to qualify the movie. There is some fun as it plows through the inevitable crises to the predictable conclusion, so, hey, you can't really lose.