THIS film is an unashamedly girlie chick-flick whose ridiculous attempt to portray British life is reason enough to set aside an hour and a half of your time.

Debra Messing (TV's Will and Grace) plays dappy, unlucky-in-love Kat Ellis who has the misfortune to be invited - with partner - to her younger sister's wedding in London.

Eager to appear cool and collected in the face of meeting her ex-fiance, English playboy Jeffrey, singleton Kat hires dashing male escort Nick (Dermot Mulroney) to pose as her boyfriend.

A degree in quantum physics is not required to realise where this romantic comedy is heading, and screenwriter Dana Fox fails to disappoint. The end result is not dissimilar to Pretty Woman, with Mulroney's suave, square-jawed splendour providing an enticing distraction from the feeble plot.

Messing is affable enough, offering an appealing performance as a woman who has had her self confidence knocked without slipping into neediness.

Most interesting of all is the depiction of the English male, against which the all-American male Nick (predictably) shines with dashing chivalry.

The drunken, playboy antics of the foppish English groom and best man would make any man ashamed to be English.

However, the predictable, ludicrous manner in which they are portrayed would make any screenwriter ashamed to be American.

CS