Bridesmaids

An all-female lead, and a very pink poster campaign, doesn’t immediately sell Bridesmaids as being anything other than a massive chick flick. Yet, beneath the feminine veneer, this comedy wants to be considered a woman-oriented version of a movie like The Hangover, and as such try and appeal to both genders (and, naturally, a larger audience share!).

Like most comedies, the plot is slight. Annie (Kristen Wiig) is a hapless singleton with a failed business behind her and romance reduced to nights with her arrogant f-buddy, Ted (Jon Hamm, not quite as daring as I’d hoped for but still fun in his cameo departure from type). Then Annie’s best friend, Lilian (Maya Rudolph) announces she is getting married and wants Annie to be her maid of honour and help her with the wedding plans.



Despite the periphery of other women that make up the ‘bridesmaids’ ensemble, it’s really only Lilian’s newer friend, Helen (Rose Byrne), that features as a major third-party element. Rich, confident, full of contacts and able to make the most fantastic arrangements – Helen emerges as a serious rival for Annie and it’s over Lilian’s friendship and wedding plans does battle commence.



Kristen Wiig both wrote and stars here and she really sets her stall out as a comedic talent to pay attention to. She has a great touch in details and excruciating minutia. Take, for example, the scene where her character Annie and Helen take turns delivering a speech extolling how good a friend they are of the bride. It’s an ongoing war of one-upmanship that is played just that little bit too long for maximum discomfort, and amusement.



Bridesmaids isn’t averse to pulling a gross-out moment or two, either. The results of food poisoning taking effect during the bridesmaid dress-fitting in an exclusive boutique are unflinchingly graphic and probably offer up the film’s biggest belly laughs. And, speaking of big bellies, bridesmaid Megan (Melissa McCarthy) is the only other member of the female ensemble to stand apart as something of a developed and interesting character with an upfront, blunt, trashy quality that can quickly be cut to and used to inject a salty one-liner to keep the chuckles flowing.

There are problems with the movie, however, in terms of its loose ends and lack of definition. Megan, for example, shows up towards the end to remark how she works at the top level of secret service in some capacity. It’s unclear if she’s lying, deluded or being serious. If it’s a joke it’s not funny and if it’s a character revelation then it’s muddled. Likewise Rose Byrne’s Helen is almost a one-note, single-minded bitch. A brief exchange with her stepchildren, though, suggests a fragility and internal self-esteem problem that her cold exterior is disguising; it ought to have, especially towards the end, been utilised to humanise her more. Instead it’s never picked up.

Fundamental case in point would be Annie’s cake shop. She had a cake shop business, it went bust. Clearly she is passionate about cake making and, when she loses her job, the way seems clear for her to re-build her life and future by re-igniting that dream. Sorry to spoil things mildly here, but that just never materialises. It’s not that I am saying that such a fairy tale ending was necessary, it’s just that it’s rather pointless to have seeded and grown the potential for it and then fail to let the thing bloom. You have to wonder if there was a version of the script that looked after all these details, that maybe further scenes were filmed, and the rather rushed end was simply spliced in late in the day and left question marks rather than resolutions.



Look, it’s a decent comedy film. It’s good that a ‘girl’ film is out there that can be true to the spirit of a chick flick without compromising or patronising its intended audience. Girls can go and, you know, feel like they’re watching a movie made for them. And any guys dragged along don’t have to feel like they’re being subjected to torture (quite the opposite – it’s a fun, enjoyable film). Guys watching the movie certainly fare better than guys in the film. There’s Jon Hamm’s already mentioned, dim-witted chauvinist to represent a bad relationship, and Chris O’Dowd’s likable cop as the better romance for Annie (ostensibly he takes on a role reversal of genders, becoming the typical female part in his and Annie’s burgeoning relationship) .

If Bridesmaids is to be a Suffragette-like trailblazer, pioneering a new wave of female-driven comedy then all power to it. Broad humour, quick wit and well-observed embarrassment know no gender and, frankly, I’d rather see a hundred more comedies of this variety than endure another sappy rom-com. And I'd be happy to see the bridesmaids here reunite for another wedding, Annie's most likely, to see their characters develope and let the confident display of girl power here really show the guys who is wearing the comedy trousers in the multiplex these days.