Directed by: Paul Feig
Written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy.
Watching the previews for this film for months before it opened, I cringed. Reading the reviews after it opened, I smiled. The final result fell somewhere between those two reactions.
PLOT: Annie’s (Wiig) life is on a definite downturn in terms of a job, a credible boyfriend, roommates, everything. When her BFF, Lillian (Rudolph) asks her to be Maid of Honor at her wedding, she’s happy, but concerns about her ability to pull this off, (screw-up that she is), begin to surface when she meets the ultimate wedding planner in a new friend of the bride (Rose Byrne). The plot concerns the rivalry between these two women as the wedding closes in on them.
There are at least half a dozen scenes in this film that are as funny as any you’ve seen in similar fare like THE HANGOVER, GET ME TO THE GREEK, etc. Wiig is winning in the lead role and her no-holds-barred approach goes a long way toward the film’s success. It avoids being a series of sketches as often happens in SNL alumni films. It had a cohesive plot.
Things that didn’t work out as well for me was the constant theme of jealousy between women that ran through the film—just too stereotypical. The slapsticky bits were first rate, but there were almost no lines of dialogue you’d remember after leaving the theater. It was also very long for a comedy and perhaps overly sentimental. How many hugging scenes do we need? I counted at least five in this one. Estrogen-induced or not, too much.
All in all, I’d recommend it though. Women have the right to be as vulgar and desperate and funny as men.
Patti
Patti Abbott writes crime fiction short stories. She hosts a look at Forgotten Books every Friday with readers, writers and reviewers at http://www.pattinase.blogspot.com/ She hopes you’ll join in.
Yes, the tendency to try to market this as the Distaff HANGOVER hasn't encouraged me, since THE HANGOVER was a great cast saddled with a pathetic script, randy sitcom offal all down the line. The one clip I've caught of this one, wherein Melissa McCarthy's refusal to take no for an answer from a man she wants to join the Mile High Club with is Of Course Hilarious, Because She's Fat, also didn't reassure me. I like Feig's tv work, I like the cast (McCarthy and Rudolph and Byrne more than Wiig, and Wiig OK), and I might wait and catch this one on tube, as I was more than glad I did with THE HANGOVER. Seeing the previous Rudolph film, AWAY WE GO, with a script by the well-meaning and nearly talent-free Dave Eggers and Vedela Vida, was enough gambling on Rudolph, and Byrne's career doesn't reassure me, either.
So, as with a similar film I was glad to wait to see on tv, DEFINITELY MAYBE.
I liked BRIDESMAIDS a little more than you did, Patti. Kristen Wiig as earnest, but karma-challenged Annie Walker won me over during the plane scene. Yes, the script was lame in parts. But when it got down to being funny, I laughed. A lot.
It certainly makes a good case for her to be given a part where she can let loose even more. Women can be funny.
Great review and I hope I can coral my wife into seeing it for all these reasons! I think Wiig is a multi talented comedian and performer and I hope her success here leads to more opportunities for her talent to shine.
Thanks,
Jay ridler
http://www.jridler.com