Grey's Anatomy surgical resident Katherine Heigl continues her makeover into fully-fledged leading lady with 27 Dresses, a frothy romantic comedy penned by Aline Brosh McKenna, screenwriter of The Devil Wears Prada. Anne Fletcher's film waltzes down the aisle of predictability as the resourceful heroine seeks to rewrite the assumption that she is always the bridesmaid and never the bride. Wedding bells peal loud and clear, but not before a great deal of soul-searching, self-sacrifice and a toe-curling best (wo)man speech that threatens to end in physical violence.

Personal assistant Jane (Heigl) has dedicated her life to caring for others, at the expense of her own happiness. Secretly in love with her boss, advertising executive George (Edward Burns), Jane invests every waking minute in planning the nuptials of friends and work colleagues, donning a different bridesmaid dress for each meticulously planned occasion.

When her model sister Tess (Malin Akerman) sashays into town and bewitches George, Jane faces the possibility of losing the man of her dreams. To rub salt into the wounds, Tess asks Jane to plan their wedding. Complicating matters, cynical reporter Kevin (James Marsden), who pens wedding announcements in the New York Journal, starts snooping around with the intention of writing a front-page spread about Jane. He is stunned that she survives on the happiness of others. "What about you? You don't have needs?" he wonders. "No, I'm Jesus," quips Jane. However, as the big day approaches, the lonely P.A. finds it increasingly difficult to hold her tongue.

27 Dresses relies heavily on Heigl to carry the film through its numerous flimsier moments and she rises to the occasion, compelling us to fall in love with her heartbroken singleton. On-screen chemistry with Marsden smoulders, especially in a hysterical karaoke sequence when Jane and Kevin kindle a mutual attraction with an unforgettable, boozy rendition of Elton John's Benny and the Jets.

McKenna sketches Burns's groom-to-be without any discernible foibles and flaws so when Kevin has to mount a challenge for Jane's affections, he can only come across as even more impossibly perfect. How two charming, handsome and eligible men can still be single in a city where women knock one another unconscious to catch a bride's bouquet is a mystery.

Akerman revisits her slightly manic persona from the remake of The Heartbreak Kid, telling little white lies to George, such as her supposed love of animals, to keep him sweet. "The only animals you care about are dead ones with sleeves," scolds Jane when she discovers the deception.

Director Fletcher maintains a steady pace and creates some surprisingly touching moments, like when Jane wanders into a restaurant to find George as the staff delivers his wedding proposal. "Hold it guys, she's not the one," says George quickly. The look of longing and despair on Heigl's face is heartbreaking.

Few of us dip our toes into the turbulent waters of adult life without one or two emotional bruises from our schooldays. The playground is a battlefield, where bullies hone in on the slightest sign of weakness and wreak maximum devastation with a few well-chosen verbal grenades.

In Steven Brill's comedy Drillbit Taylor, the victims of intimidation strike back against their tormentors with a little help from a most unlikely role model: a downtrodden soldier of fortune whose bold claims that he protected "three Vice Presidents, Bobby Brown and Sylvester Stallone" are all lies.

On their first day at high school, best friends Ryan (Troy Gentile) and Wade (Nate Hartley) lend a helping hand to bullied loner Emmit (David Dorfman) by saving him from psychotic Filkins (Alex Frost) and his henchman Ronnie (Josh Peck). The thugs turn their attention to Ryan and Wade as well, making all three boys' lives a misery.

Refusing to spend their time in perpetual fear, the boys hire covert black ops mercenary Drillbit Taylor (Owen Wilson) as their private bodyguard. He infiltrates the school by posing as a supply teacher, and wins the heart of staffroom lovely Lisa (Leslie Mann). But Drillbit soon realises that Filkins and Ronnie are a serious threat and the only way to save his pint-sized proteges is to become the hard man he pretends to be.

Drillbit Taylor is a blood brother to co-screenwriter Seth Rogen's previous film, Superbad, which drew its humour from the camaraderie between two sexually frustrated teenagers. This comedy is pitched younger, touching briefly upon affairs of the heart and the loins in the most innocent way. when shy, gangly Wade tries to pluck up the courage to ask out classmate Brooke (Valerie Tian).

"What if she says no?" asks Ryan.

"My life sucks so badly that if she says no, I won't have far to fall," concludes his pal sadly.

Rapport between the leads fizzes with energy, galvanised by quick-fire dialogue and some amusing interludes like when Ryan and Wade try to practice Drillbit's self-defence techniques by punching one another, and almost break bones.

Dorfman's deranged hanger-on is a nice addition to the mix, while Frost and Peck glower with enough sinister intent to convince us they could have an entire school cowering in submission.

Wilson plays to his strengths, grinning impishly in romantic scenes with Mann (sex takes places behind closed doors), and stripping off completely for a roadside shower that would cause a multi-vehicle pile-up in any other film.

Rogen and Kristofer Brown's screenplay runs out of ideas and hastily contrives a final showdown that asserts the best way to defeat a bully is to smack him even harder.

"I don't want you to think I'm the kind of guy who impresses girls with violence," Wade tells Brooke, "but that was kind of for you."

It gives new meaning to the term schoolboy crush.