Bridesmaids
We decided to take a stab at the new female-buddy comedy “Bridesmaids” from a couple of angles and present a “He said, She said” sort of thing. Here’s what DVD thought…
At its guts and gristle, “Bridesmaids” is a coming of age story that concerns itself with the distance that grows between friends due to marriage. When Annie (Kristen Wiig) first hears the news that her bestie, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), is engaged to be hitched, she immediately panics. Is she going to lose the most important person in her life? When will she find “the one”? Is it really time to grow up and start a family? They are all legitimate bothers that nearly everyone must face when they’re young. But, considering that the two comediennes portraying Annie and Lillian are in their late thirties, it’s a plot that has some cause for concern. It has been stated that thirty is the new twenty but it seems that the filmmakers behind “Bridesmaids” (including Wiig, who co-wrote the film) are making a case that forty is the new twelve.
Not that Annie doesn’t have a reason for dismay when the wedding is announced. She has recently lost her Milwaukee-based business where she made gorgeous cakes for her non-existent clientele. She shares an apartment with a pair of British siblings who enjoy rooting through her belongings when she’s out and around. Her only exposure to intimacy is with a tool named Ted (John Hamm) who freely admits that Annie is a solid third on his f-buddy list. Nothing is on the positive and now Lillian is soon to be wed while Annie is soon to be homeless and hollow.
Insult is applied directly to the wound when Annie is introduced to Lillian’s new BFF from hell, Helen (Rose Byrne). Annie is christened as Lillian’s Maid of Honor but Helen has a few ideas of her own when it comes to every minute aspect of wedding. Toes are stepped on to the point of abuse and Annie is pushed to the brink. There are other bridesmaids involved, each one with her own quirk to drive Annie insane. Rapidly, bad shifts to worse which is replaced by abominable as Annie loses her coping skills and deteriorates into a blistering mess.
There are plenty of talented people involved with “Bridesmaids”. The film is the female response to the Judd Apatow produced films (“Knocked Up,” “Superbad,” and “The 40 Year Old Virgin”) that have dominated the Comedy Genre for the past fistful of years. Funnily enough, Judd Apatow produced it, proving that he really has his hands in every movie that comes out of Hollywood that contains even a single chuckle.
Let time be taken to praise the performance of Mellisa McCarthy as alpha-female, Megan. She takes the film from anyone that shares the screen with her and is reason alone to see this movie. Rudolph and Wiig have a couple of moments towards the beginning of the film that are very well acted and easily establish the two as close friends. That bond is ignored, however, once the conflicts ensue, leaving many scenes flimsy and weak. There are some gem moments (the bridle boutique scene culminates rather nicely) and you will laugh out loud but there are nearly just as many duds. The film runs close to the two-hour mark (an Apatow trademark) and could have done with a snip or two. With so many flat punch lines, I wonder why they didn’t edit out the unfunny and make a slimmer, crisper movie that seems to be hiding in there somewhere. As is, “Bridesmaids” is a flawed comedy that almost delivers.