Good without being great... But it DID pass my 'Six Laughs Test'...

Rating: 7/10 (16 June 2012)

Very well made and yes, it did pass the 'six laugh test' – If a comedy doesn't get more than six laughs from me it ain't no comedy! As for performances, well, everyone was very good; Kristen Wiig as Annie Walker, Maya Rudolph as Lillian and Rose Byrne as Helen all did great jobs. I loved Melissa McCarthy as Megan, she really made me laugh and (of course) Chris O'Dowd as Rhodes; I know him from the TV show 'The IT Crowd' here in the UK. Also worthy of note were; Rebel Wilson as Brynn, Matt Lucas as Gil, Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita and Ellie Kemper as Becca. Oh, and look out for Jon Hamm (uncredited) as Ted.
A story about popularity, friendship, love, relationships all kinds of stuff really; I was kind of struggling to keep up by the end! There is a trend in comedies (of late) of putting people in awkward, uncomfortable, often embarrassing situations and I must say I'm afraid don't find it funny. You are made to care about a particular character and then laugh at them as they squirm in an uncomfortable situation. Sorry people, it just doesn't do anything for me. As far as this film goes, yes there were some of those moments, but there were also some truly comic moments, mostly supplied by the wonderful Melissa McCarthy, it has to be said; although Kristen Wiig and Chris O'Dowd did raise a titter or two. The surprise for me though, was the performance of Rose Byrne, she did really well in a genre I wouldn't particularly associate with her. Over all, I must say, despite a couple of misgivings, I did enjoy this film a lot more than I expected to Recommended.
My score: 7.1/10
IMDb Score: 6.9/10 (based on 93,096 votes at the time of going to press).
MetaScore: 75/100: (Based on 39 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Tomatometer' Score: 90/100 (based on 232 reviews counted at the time of going to press).
Rotten Tomatoes 'Audience' Score: 73/100 'Liked It' (based on 87,373 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
You can find an expanded version of this review on my blog: Thoughts of a SteelMonster.