Matrimony: Unbelievably Believable

Rating: 9/10 (15 May 2011)

"Matrimony: Unbelievably Believable" Director Paul Feig and Producer Judd Apatow have successfully created a romantic comedy that breaks through the usual limitations and rules of the genre. Bridesmaids proves that women can be as raunchy as men releasing the ridiculous upon audiences in original fashion backed by heart. Kristen Wiig has finally proved that she is much more than the goof seen on Saturday Night Live jumping to the top of the comedy genre brining the buddy comedy to the feminine arena. Wiig stars as a thirty-something year old women named Annie whose life is headed on a downward spiral. Her roommates are impossible to live with, her job sucks and her love life is nonexistent except for meaningless sexual escapades with a man named Ted (Jon Hamm, The Town). To top it off her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph, Away We Go) puts things into perspective when telling Annie she is getting married. On the bright side, Lillian has chosen Annie to be her Maid of Honor giving Annie something worth working for. Annie's excitement doesn't last long as she meets Lillian's diverse bridesmaids choices, Megan (Melissa McCarthy, CBS's Mike and Molly ), Becca (Ellie Kemper, NBC's The Office), and Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey, Reno 911!: Miami) along with Helen (Rose Byrne, Get Him to the Greek) who uses her wealth and power to takeover as Maif of Honor. Annie has hit bottom and with the support of a police officer named Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd, Gulliver's Travels) and the antics of female relationships, she embarks on a hilarious yet meaningful journey to rediscover herself.
Bridesmaids differentiates itself from the rom-com stereotype with the clever cliché-free scriptwriting of Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. No matter how outrageous the jokes become, they are smart, fun and unbelievably believable. Consequently, the film controls the outrage allowing the humor to improve the story and support the almost perfect Apatow cast. For example, Melissa McCarthy acts like a complete idiot racking up the laughs giving male raunch a run for its money. However, the stand out performance and the best performance of an actress this year so far comes from Kristen Wiig's multidimensional melding of comedy and drama.
How do you complain about a movie as unique as Bridesmaids? Well first audiences expecting to see a chick flick have no idea what they are getting themselves into and if they cannot take the raunch it is going to be a painful two hours. Also, while the film is titled Bridesmaids, viewers may expect a story based around more than one woman, when in actuality it is not. Even so, the only real problem with the film is its song and dance happy ending, undermining what could have been a great finale.
Comedies bordering the two-hour mark usually have a hard time engrossing the audience as the jokes run thin and the drama ensues, however, Bridesmaids' comedy becomes smarter and smarter giving each of the bridesmaids a matrimonial purpose in Wiig's fasttrack to the A-List.