Refreshing...

Rating: 7/10 (17 July 2011)

OK, so the idea that this is the female 'hangover' is not entirely the comparison to draw, but in many ways i can see why its said.
What i like most about this film is it has seemingly drawn inspiration from a film like the hangover but has not just tried to make the same story with a female cast.
For a start when you are working with ladies as the main characters the extreme comedy and gross out areas don't bring the same comedy value. Where comedy born out of misfortune requires you to love the character but also not care enough about them so as to find it funny when they fail in some way, its harder to strike that balance with a female without either making them too adorable or making them too bitchy. Its sort of sexist as a point but there really are one rule for one and one for another. For example, a guy gets a beat down from a girl in a scene and done right can bring a laugh. Can you imagine trying to pull a laugh from a guy beating on a woman? Ain't going to happen nor should it.
I like that this film took a foundation with a feminine touch and obvious chick flick markers and then added to it genuine comedy moments that didn't rely on the gender of the character to emphasise the scene.
It was good to not simply have a whiney tale of girl power, it showed that these were women who knew their own mind, had their own problems and made their own mistakes.
I liked also how the character who was played for slapstick value in megan (very much initially in the Zach Galifianakis role as the odd ball future in law) didn't just stay as this freaky peripheral player but steps up to instill some much needed tough love and give an insight into the fact that her character is actually a very successful woman in her career... emphasising as ever that you don't judge a book by its cover.
Overall the film paced perfectly with only a few noticeable exceptions where they felt a need to leave us wallowing along with the lead character a few too many times (taking a sledgehammer to a walnut, we already sympathised with her and liked her after the early scenes, it didn't need further pity plays), and it left us on a satisfactory conclusion.
I would hope this film doesn't try and dip in for a sequel, as i cant see a great scope for one and will be simply a cash cow that will take the shine of the original film.