Finally! A Female-Centric Wedding Comedy Done Right After So Long!

Rating: 9/10 (6 June 2011)

"Bridesmaids" is a huge breath of fresh air after the atrocious, forgettable messes of romantic comedies that were "Bride Wars" (2009) and "You Again" (2010) to name a few. After sitting through those movies, which despite their bad reviews were actually modest box office hits, I truly assumed the wedding movie was dead. Wedding movies of late were either overly- sentimental fluff that could be used as wedding planners' promotional videos, or uninspired slapstick comedy where attractive women pull mean pranks on one another.
"Bridesmaids" is already being toted as an alternative wedding movie because it's co- produced by Judd Apatow, and has gross-out humor that decidedly appeals to guys. There is toilet humor in only one section of the movie, and it is funny, but it's not solely what makes the film great.
Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are two of the funniest and most talented women to ever come out of "Saturday Night Live". I always thought they deserved the successful post-SNL careers that Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are currently experiencing, and this movie may ensure they get it.
Wiig, as the star and the co-writer of this film, turns in a great, poignant performance here as Annie, a woman who is down on her luck in love and her career. She once owned a bake shop that closed due to the recession, and she's in a hapless, artificial relationship with a cad played by Jon Hamm.
Her best friend Lillian (Rudolph), on the other hand, is getting married and wants Annie to be her maid of honor. The trouble is, Annie is not quite as experienced in planning wedding festivities as another bridesmaid, Helen (Rose Byrne), who is a more recent friend of Lillian. Helen is quite a bit wealthier than Annie, and much more ostentatious and bombastic about her position in life, although more subtly.
It's really funny how Wiig plays up how enraged Annie is over Helen, and Helen is indeed a character who is easy to dislike. Many other Hollywood writers would have staged a big fight between the two bridesmaids involving throwing food and scratching. The problem with a scene like that is it's childish. You really wouldn't see women in their 30's acting such a way, unless perhaps they're on "Bridezilla".
More to the point though, the movie works because it really centers on how preparation for a happy event like a wedding can be really stressful on different involved parties for different reasons. Such planning also rekindles hard feelings in some people over where they are in life, and why they are not where they want to be. For that reason, you really empathize with Wiig in her performance. Fortunately, it also helps that her comic timing is spot on.
There are also great supporting performances all around. Melissa McCarthy (TV's "Mike and Molly") steals a lot of scenes with some gut-bustingly hilarious lines, not to mention a gross- out moment involving a bathroom sink. Chris O'Dowd also turns in a memorable performance as Officer Nathan Rhodes, and has many genuinely sweet moments alongside Wiig. The late Jill Clayburgh was the perfect casting choice for Annie's Mom, and has some great lines that keep the movie down to earth. It's hard to think of a better final performance on her part.
"Bridesmaids" did occasionally fall victim to a few wedding movie clichés, such as one of the bridal party members getting cold feet the day of the wedding, and a big name musical act actually performing at the end of the film. However, there is so much this movie did correctly that many wedding comedies have done wrong, especially "Brides Wars".
I should note, however, that "Bride Wars" was also co-written by a female former SNL-cast member, Casey Wilson, so it's not entirely fair to rip on that movie. Plus, Wilson is a very talented performer who happened to be fired from SNL before she really got to shine. Considering how well Wiig has done on and outside of SNL, it probably wouldn't hurt for her to give Wilson some writing tips.