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Bookmark this pageBridesmaids (2011)
Director: Paul Feig
Movie review
From Time Out London
Attempts at adapting the ever popular gross-out lad-com genre for the female market have been largely woeful, as anyone who has suffered through the likes of ‘The Sweetest Thing’ or ‘Bride Wars’ can attest. But is it just that the films were bad, or does this point to a subtle gender discrepancy when it comes to comedy? Even in this enlightened age, could it be that audiences find the idea of women puking, farting and fighting inherently offputting?As it turns out, no. Those movies were just rubbish. Get a script stuffed with crackling one-liners, a talented and hugely likeable cast and the creative team responsible for the likes of ‘Freaks and Geeks’ (director Paul Feig) and ‘The 40 Year Old Virgin’ (producer Judd Apatow), and the result can be every bit as disgracefully enjoyable as its finest phallocentric equivalent.
‘Bridesmaids’ is the brainchild of ‘Saturday Night Live’ alumnus Kristen Wiig, whose memorable supporting performances in everything from ‘Whip It’ to ‘Paul’ have led to a well-deserved lead role here – though the fact that she co-wrote the script can’t have hurt. Wiig plays Annie, a put-upon, mid-thirties single woman whose already fragile ego takes a knock when she finds out that her sole remaining unmarried friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), is getting hitched. Readily agreeing to act as maid of honour, Annie takes on the task of wrangling a gang of mismatched, wilful bridesmaids through the marriage preparations, with predictably disastrous consequences.
Gamely tackling everything from sly satire to broad slapstick, sweet romance to lurid innuendo (her impersonation of a penis is some kind of genius), Wiig’s performance is consistently remarkable. Her scenes with Rudolph are the heart of the film: it’s hard to remember such a warmly convincing, consistently hilarious depiction of female friendship.
The rest of the cast is secondary, but still noteworthy: for the boys, ‘Mad Men’ lead John Hamm stands out in an uncredited role as Annie’s preening ‘fuck buddy’, while British TV veteran Chris O’Dowd supplies appropriate levels of awkward charm as the straight-man love interest. Girl-wise, Rose Byrne makes for a superbly hissable villain as Annie’s brittle, privileged friendship rival Helen, but is consistently overshadowed by Melissa McCarthy as the brusque, Belushi-esque bruiser Megan.
It doesn’t all work: some of the more extreme gross-out does feel rather like petty one-upmanship (‘You think “The Hangover” was bad? Well check this out...’), while a few of the later scenes, in which Annie goes spectacularly off the rails, feel forced. Also, as is often the case with the Apatow stable’s output, the film goes on just a little too long.
But mostly ‘Bridesmaids’ is a triumph, an effortless blend of bad taste and good humour with a wholly believable, often very touching emotional core, all centred around one of the finest star-making comic performances in recent memory.
Author: Tom Huddleston
Time Out London Issue 2131: 22 – 28 June, 2011
User reviews of this film
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- Dorothy said...
- Posted on Apr 02 2012 01:48 Just saw this on cable because I thought I just had to see the film that people went crazy over. All I can say is, "did I miss something?" This was just a mess of a film. While the plot/theme might have worked in a kind of Waitress comedy, it didn't work here.
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- nananana batman said...
- Posted on Mar 01 2012 23:51 what a crap movie, it was as before mentioned: predictable, tiring, predominantly depressing and long. One very long 'chick flick' that is only suitable if you don't want the story to go anywhere, the relationships to develop anywhere and waste 2 hours of your life.
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- Ricky said...
- Posted on Feb 25 2012 09:14 I ound this movie unwatchably ugly. Yuck!
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- Ricky said...
- Posted on Feb 25 2012 09:12 I found this movie unwatchably ugly. Yuck!
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- Way to go on this essay, said...
- Posted on Jan 24 2012 03:33 Way to go on this essay, hepled a ton.
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- Chuck said...
- Posted on Jan 20 2012 16:10 This is about the worst movie I've seen in a while. Cliche, poor acting, not funny.
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- Dunc said...
- Posted on Dec 04 2011 23:36 absolutely awful. I'm staggered this film got high ratings elsewhere. Am I watching the same film. Corny jokes, predictable, crap story line... Is there a conspiracy with film. How much did they bribe critics to write good reviews??? I would give it 0 out of 5 if I could. I usually agree with most ratings of films. I'm staggered!
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- Dave A said...
- Posted on Sep 06 2011 11:26 A truly awful film. A combination of American-folksy-buddy-cringe-inducing nonsense and the worst kind of instrument to prove that women can be every bit as nauseating as the worst kind of low-life males in the ignorant and foul-mouthed stakes. If this constitutes a quality "chick-flicK" then we should all despair for the direction in which the female mind is heading. Avoid this drivel at all costs
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- Deec said...
- Posted on Aug 30 2011 21:47 Very funny film, definetly one of the better films I have watched recently. I genuinely laughed and cried and thoroughly enjoyed it.
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- Big Dick, B'ham said...
- Posted on Aug 22 2011 11:15 I waited until the last week to see this and still nearly didn't get in!! Wot a laff - exactly what it said on the tin. I started laughing at the beginning and was still laughing at the end. Get a life critic.
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- Dick, B'ham said...
- Posted on Aug 12 2011 17:59 I waited until I thought the cinema would be quieter, mistake - last week and still full. Brilliant, funny and didn't stop laughing fom start to finish.
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- Disappointed said...
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Posted on Jul 25 2011 11:12
One of the worst films I have ever seen. Weak acting, poor script/dialogue - paper thin characters and jokes mainly fall awkwardly flat
Feels v disjointed like they made it up as they were going along
Overall stunningly mediocre and dull.
I want those hours of my life back. How did this get a 4* rating? Trust in TO threatened if this becomes a habit... - Report as inappropriate
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- Sutton said...
- Posted on Jul 23 2011 14:52 This really is a dire film. A couple of funny moments, mainly involving John Hamm. Amazed it got 4 stars from TO. Poor script, acting (particularly from the Irish bloke) and very dis-jointed. I would have walked out, but I was hoping it would improve. The dress fitting scene sums it up, it was s**t..
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- depressed filmgoer said...
- Posted on Jul 23 2011 00:57 This was a quality movie - great performances (esp Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne), great soundtrack, and actually pretty funny in places. However, there was a real tragic aspect to it, and I came away feeling a bit depressed. I didn't expect (or want) that from a comedy, so it loses a star!
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- Jim said...
- Posted on Jul 20 2011 19:04 Not funny really. Also, the plot was poor at best. Atrociously predictable at best. Needed much, much more structure.
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Cast & crew
Director: Paul Feig
Cast: Kristen Wiig, Rose Byrne, Jon Hamm, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Matt Lucas, Chris O'Dowd full cast
Rated: 15
Duration: 125 mins
UK Release: Jun 24 2011
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