Want to know what I thought of while watching Something Borrowed, Kate Hudson's latest rom-com?

The Hottie & The Nottie.

I know. I know. Weird. Something Borrowed isn't set in school, doesn't include any hideously portrayed characters, thankfully doesn't have Paris Hilton and actually is moderately entertaining.

As I was leaving the theater after having been one of the 13 people worldwide to actually see The Hottie & The Nottie in the theater, I found myself thinking "Christine Lakin (The Nottie) is way more my type than the Hottie (Hilton)."

Such is the case in Something Borrowed, yet the latest film to try to convince us that the wondrous Ginnifer Goodwin is, somehow, to be considered "plain."

Ummm, not.

Therein lies much of the problem, however, with Something Borrowed, a film where Kate Hudson is the star but Ginnifer Goodwin should be. While there's nothing particularly wrong with Kate Hudson, Ginnifer Goodwin and supporting player John Krasinski keep the film afloat and keep what could have easily been a cinematic disaster from completing falling apart.

Darcy (Kate Hudson) is getting ready to marry Dex (Colin Egglesfield), while her not so lucky in love best friend, Rachel (Ginnifer Goodwin), sits on the sidelines and is generally a good sport about the whole thing despite having long had a thing for him herself. Darcy's larger than life magnetic personality practically ensures that she gets everything and everyone she wants, while the more sensitive and shy Rachel, well, doesn't. Well, eventually she does kinda sorta, in a way that makes Rachel and Darcy seem at least a decent fit after all.

While none of the relationships in Something Borrowed could be considered convincing, it's the character of Rachel who really shines here and, perhaps, it's that shine that both keeps us watching and keeps us at least a little bit irritated that so much of the film is about Darcy, who bulldozes her with through the film courtesy of Kate Hudson's too high energy performance.

Truthfully, until the very end, the friendship between Darcy and Rachel feels artificial and, for that matter, Dex doesn't seem like that great of a catch. Darcy is so obnoxious that it's hard not to picture Sandra Bullock in All About Steve, while Rachel is just so weak that it becomes increasingly difficult to be overly sympathetic with her. Dex? Dex, as portrayed by Colin Egglesfield, is weak-minded and emotionally vacant to the point that you can't help but think you've stumbled into another Kate Hudson/Matthew McConaughey film. It is only Krasinski's Ethan, who is unquestionably the film's comic relief, who provides any sense of reality and humor for the film with nearly all of his one-liners hitting the mark.  Steve Howey also has some fun as Marcus, a party animal friend, while Ashley Williams shows up as the obligatory rom-com nympho.

Based on a novel by Emily Giffin (Are there really people who voluntarily read this?), Something Borrowed looks and feels like any number of other films starring Kate Hudson and, to a certain degree, even Goodwin. It's a bit more challenging to figure out what attracted to Krasinski to the film...perhaps a gambling debt? Favor to an old friend? Regardless, Krasinski shines far and above anything else this film has to offer.

Production credits are generally fine, though Alex Wurman's over-sentimentalized original score heightens drama that doesn't exist and Jennie Snyder's script never quite figures out how to rescue the film's resolution from the clutches of a group of characters who aren't really appealing and with whom we aren't particularly invested.

Where's Matthew McConaughey when you need him?

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic