Director: Paul Feig (Unaccompanied Minors)
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy
Currently in Theaters
There's been an odd trend in movies so far in 2011. The filmmakers don't seem to understand how to market their own films. Bridesmaids is a prime example of this. From the trailers and posters, this movie looks like, at best, a female version of The Hangover or, at worst, a cookie cutter chick flick with no positive qualities whatsoever. The problem is that these assumptions are completely wrong. Bridesmaids is that rare romantic comedy that guys will want their girlfriends to love just so they get the chance to watch it again.
Bridesmaids is drawing superficial comparisons to The Hangover because of its character structure. The film is about a bride-to-be (Maya Rudolph) and her bridesmaids during the months leading up to her marriage. They also go to Las Vegas (well, not really), but this is where the comparisons stop. Kristen Wiig plays Annie, the maid of honor whose fumbling choices and depressing life turn most of the bachelorette events into disasters. Annie's troubles are further agitated by Helen (Rose Byrne), a bridesmaid who tries to take control from Annie during every event. Annie's love interests are played by Chris O'Dowd and Jon Hamm, who fit the roles of "nice, considerate boyfriend" and "sexist douche", respectively.
The real star of the film, though, is Melissa McCarthy, who plays Megan, the sister of the groom. Although she only plays a supporting role in the movie, she steals every scene she's in and elevating them from just funny scenes into hilarious and memorable ones. Her character's charisma shines through every time she speaks and Megan actually felt like a real person, as opposed to the caricatures that made up the other bridesmaids. I sincerely hope to see more from McCarthy in some other big screen comedies.
And Bridesmaids is first and foremost a comedy, which is where the film shines the brightest. There are many memorable scenes in the film and I've found myself quoting it quite a few times. The scene on the airplane is by far my favorite. Each of the women add something hilarious to the scene and even the minor airplane characters are funny. Another great scene was the dress fitting. I'm not a big fan of toilet humor, but for some reason the joke worked perfectly there. And my most quoted line from a movie so far this year probably has to be "bear sandwich".
All this isn't to say that Bridesmaids is flawless. The pacing is a bit weird in the first half of the film; there's this one scene where Annie bakes a cupcake that kind of comes out of nowhere and seems tacked on. The movie also gets a little too chick flicky for my tastes at points, although I guess that comes with the territory. My biggest problem, though, was the ending. Everything is wrapped up perfectly and everybody gets what they wanted the whole time. This isn't always a bad thing, but here it didn't feel earned at all. Also, the Wilson Phillips lip syncing scene was just terrible.
Don't let that last paragraph leave a bad taste in your mouth. Bridesmaids is a hilarious movie and to point out three bad scenes from a movie that's over two hours long is nitpicking. I know at least ten people who have seen the movie so far and every single one of them loved it, including three guys. In fact, I've already seen it twice. Bridesmaids is cute, different, and, most importantly, hilarious, and you should definitely check it out.
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