Review of Bridesmaids (2011) by Chris W — 22 May 2013

This might feature a mostly female cast and involve the road to a wedding as the main plot, but this is most certainly not a chick flick. It is instead a very funny, terrifically acted story about female companionship, and all the wacky shenanigans that can happen when a diverse bunch of women get together to try to make a friend's special day very special. It's also quite vulgar, but not overbearingly so.

The film follows Annie, whose life is not going well. She used to have her own bakery, but the recession killed that, so she's near broke, working a dead end job, has a crappy car, an awkward living situation, and an equally awkward romantic life. When her childhood best friend Lillian announces her engagement and makes her the maid of honor, Annie finds her life getting even more complicated and messy, especially when she starts butting heads with Helen- Lillian's new best friend and the mother of all bridesmaidzillas.

When I first heard about this film, I shrugged it off as being The Hangover, but with women, and didn't have much high hopes for it. As I began to hear more about it, I started to change my mind. Now that I've seen it, I'm so glad I gave it a chance. It's gotten so much buzz, a lot of it earned, but even though this isn't that great or the masterpiece a lot of people make it out to be, it's still a really good and highly entertaining piece of work.

I've enjoyed Kristen Wiig for a few years now, but this one really seals the deal for her being a comedic force that needs to be reckoned with. She and her co-write deliver a sharp and witty script, and she really shows her range and chops here as Annie, doing a wonderful job being drunk, playing a sad sack, and selling the more dramatic and emotional parts of the story as well. Yes, that;s right, the film isn't all outrageousness and raunch. It tries pulling at the heart as well, and mostly succeeds there, too.

Wiig is great, but it's some of the supporters who really steal the show here, especially Melissa McCarthy as Megan- the groom's sister who is basically the Zach Galifianakis here, and Jon Hamm as Ted- Annie's amazingly sleazy friend with benefits. Chris O'Dowd is good as a friendly cop who rather manages to avoid most rom com cliches, and I just really appreciated the amazing chemistry between all of the women. The really sell their relationships here.

The film is quite good, but, as I alluded to, it's not perfect, and even a tad overrated. For one thing, it's overlong and just drags on with just a whiff of fumes by the time the end credits roll. The film starts to take chances and I was hoping it would surprise me and be original, but no, it basically ends how you figure it will. I was surprised though that it didn't at times play out like I thought it would, even though it does so by the end. Also, it's not nearly as raunchy and envelope pushing as it could have been (or that I was anticipating). It's rather awkward and uncomfortable on occasion, but that's actually a pro, not a con, even though it makes some of it difficult to sit through.

All in all, this is a very funny, very strong effort that set a lot of things right, but unfortunately doesn't have enough steam to keep it flying high all the way through. You should see it though, and here's to hoping that Wiig will both pen and star in more films to come.