Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids (2011)

Writer: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
Director: Paul Feig
Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Rose Byrne

Synopsis
A well-meaning, down-on-her-luck woman who can't catch a break is confronted by the success of her best friend when asked to be the maid of honor at her wedding.


The Woman
this wasn't bad, but it didn't live up to the hype in my brain. if i hadn't heard how amazingly funny this was, or how it shows women can be funny too (which i find insulting because there are plenty of women in entertainment who are really funny), or how it's "the hangover" woman style (which is totally untrue, in my opinion) i might have come back with a different view of this movie. i felt really bad for poor kristin wiig. that almost overshadowed the "funniness" of it. i did want her to pick herself up by the bootstraps, but i wanted the other characters to realize the depth of depression she felt resulting from her failure to excel in the only thing she was passionate about. what chick (i can only speak for chicks, here) hasn't felt like a total loser in comparison with her friends at times? i wanted maya rudoph's character to defend kristen wiig's character to the rest of the group. i wanted rose byrne's character to get punched in the face several times. i think the melissa mccarthy character had a good idea with the fight club party. she could go all edward norton vs. jared leto on rose byrne.

there were some funny parts to this. we laughed out loud more than a couple times. i don't want to minimize the positive review part, but with all apatow movies there's that big current of seriousness that always throws me off.

MOster
So.

Critically, this is a terrific movie.  There's a plot with some personal development for at least a few of the characters, there is drama, there is humor, there are uncomfortable situations and women having digestive difficulties but only in one scene.  The production value of the film is high, and consistent.  The acting is fine or better.  The direction and camera work are unassuming.  I believe that this film deserved the nominations which it garnered.  My biggest problem from a critical perspective is that the title just doesn't match the story and the marketing campaign bore little resemblance to the actual film.  The movie is about bridesmaids, but it's only pertinent to the acquaintance between two of them.  I spent a minute looking to see if this was written under a different title but I couldn't find anything.  It just seemed to me like we were sold a bill of goods.  What we got wasn't bad, but it wasn't what we were promised.


Personally, it just wasn't all the way there for me.  Some of the antics either didn't go far enough or went too far over the top.  Neither of the rival women has a ton of self respect, and that always bothers me in films about women (when it's there).  There was a lot of growing up, and I appreciated that development and it felt real enough to me.  There's just something untoward about the whole thing, and while that contributes to the comedy it wasn't quite enough for me.