“The Decoy Bride” is a romantic comedy about a Hollywood actress (Alice Eve) who escapes to the fictional Scottish island of Hegg with her famous author fiancé (David Tennant) to avoid the paparazzi. When the paparazzi shows up at the wedding venue, Alice flees, leaving David standing at the altar. To throw the paparazzi off the scent, Alice’s assistants hire a stand-in (Kelly Macdonald) to pose as the bride. However, things don’t go as planned, and David and Kelly end up getting married for real.
While the film has an interesting premise, it falls short in execution. The plot feels drawn out and could have worked better as a TV special than a feature-length film. The performances are average, with David Tennant essentially playing a variation of his popular character from “Doctor Who.” Sally Phillips’ American accent is distracting and doesn’t add much to the story. The American characters could have been removed without affecting the plot.
The only standout performance comes from Kelly Macdonald, who brings charm and humour to her role. It’s refreshing to see her in a lighter role after her serious work on “Boardwalk Empire.”
Overall, “The Decoy Bride” is a predictable rom-com that will likely appeal to fans of David Tennant. However, it fails to live up to the standards of similar films by Richard Curtis or other notable romantic comedy filmmakers.
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