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So with the release of Bridesmaids, there was this whole critical campaign creaming the panties of faux-feminists in the media. Finally, a comedy that is not afraid to allow the ladies to get explosive diarrhea. But the problem with women in comedies--hell, Hollywood movies in general--has never been that they haven't been protrayed as juvenile pud-pullers like the guys, but that they are consistently perfect, idealized visions of screenwriters who crib their characterizations from the pages of Good Housekeeping. Girls in movies that aren't smart, earnest, successful, and docile are less common than crib death. Bridesmaids ain't gonna convert the orthodoxy, but it's alright. The main character, played by the intermittently funny Kristen Wiig, is the bright spot. Her best friend (the ambiguously-ethnic Maya Rudolph) is getting married, and Wiig is both flattered and bothered at the prospect of playing the maid of honour. Her life has gone off the rails--her business failed, her roommates are kooky Limeys, and she's gently caress-bait for an arrogant, Porsche-driving hard-on played by Jon Hamm. Her difficulties are amplified by Rudolph's new friend, a rich icebox (Rose Byrne) who seems to be horning in on her wedding gig. Her sad life slowly comes unraveled one c-word at a time until the conflicts are inevitably resolved in typical cornball Apatow fashion. It's fairly bleak for Wiig, and she deserves credit for most of the laughs. My issue is with the rest of the titular bridal party, particularly the fat quasi-dyke who was basically Zach Galifanakis with a vagina. Call me uncomfortable at the prospect of equality, but this broad was pure schtick and trying too loving hard to spawn a catchphrase. Rudolph, a bitter married chick (Melissa McCarthy) and a smiley Mormon (Ellie Kemper) add gently caress-all to the procedings, as does a romantic subplot with a whiny state trooper who reminded me too much of the creepy Eddie Marsdan character in Happy-Go-Lucky. It's funny sporadically, but it's no The Hangover, much less Baby Mama. The jokes are about as inconsistent as my verb tenses. Temper your expectations a bit if you're expecting a gross-out comedy; it's more The Importance of Being Earnest than Pink Flamingos. I'll be generous and give it a three. From apron strings to making GBS threads in public in two generations. You've come a long way, baby.
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Jun 15, 2011 21:02
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 15:24 |
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I thought The Hangover was too over the top and not very funny, but I liked Bridesmaids. The premise is similar at first glance, but Hangover is more about a bunch of guys dealing with outrageous things while Bridesmaids is exactly that: bridesmaids. It's a bunch of women acting like little girls for a while and acting crazy because you're supposed to for a wedding right? The movie is more about the crazy things chicks will do with being a bridesmaid and the humor that might come along with it rather than shoving random over the top humor down your throat and expecting you to like it. Most of the characters are likable (except for the policeman, that whole thing was awkward) and if I ever heard of something in the movie happening to someone in real life, I'd laugh my rear end off and love it. 4/5
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Jul 8, 2011 20:03
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A really entertaining movie! None of the characters take themselves seriously, and the movie had good pacing. Men will find plenty to laugh at, and has enough girl-appeal that your girlfriend/wife definitely won't mind seeing it with you. 5/5 (4.5 out of 5 if there hadn't been any golden retriever puppies with pink berets). melon cat fucked around with this message at 16:49 on Jul 17, 2011 |
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Jul 17, 2011 16:45
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This is easily the best comedy of the year. I usualy don't like girls in comedic roles, but the cast was absolutely perfect. I can't say enough good things about this movie. 5/5
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Sep 6, 2011 17:43
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I finally saw this at the cheap theater yesterday, and I pretty much hated it. In general I think the Apatow-style comedy is getting really tired, and Bridesmaids suffers from all of the genre's flaws. The dialogue is stilted and awkward, none of the characters are likable or realistic, and it relies too heavily on awkward situations for comedy (the scene where Annie and Helen kept trying to one-up each other with speeches at the engagement party played out like a terrible Family Guy gag). I don't think I laughed more than once or twice throughout the entire movie--was there even a comedic setup outside of "awkward situation" or toilet humor? I also don't understand how this got billed as a feminist movie. Just because you cast women in the lead roles of a comedy doesn't mean it's a feminist comedy. If anything this movie should be offensive to women. It's about a woman-child who desperately wants her rear end in a top hat fuckbuddy to be her boyfriend even though he treats her like poo poo, but in the end her life is saved by a male authority figure who shoves her into the back of his cop-car. 2/5 because I did smirk at the pants making GBS threads scenes. il serpente cosmico fucked around with this message at 22:34 on Sep 19, 2011 |
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Sep 19, 2011 22:29
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This movie is poo poo. I tried to like it, but it just doesn't know what to do. And when it can't figure out how to make me laugh, it resorts to the potty humor (girls with loose bowels, genius!). I was crawling out of my skin the entire time, hanging in there and waiting for something funny to happen. There is some light comedy in there that made me smile, but the majority of the thing is dull and too slow moving. Maybe this appeals to the female persuasion more than it does to me. It did well enough at the box office almost guaranteeing we'll be seeing Bridesmaids 2: Chronicles of Diarrhea by summer 2012. I'll pass. 2/5
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Sep 20, 2011 05:08
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I absolutely loved 90% of the movie. The diarrhea scene should have been cut, but the rest of the humor--the airplane scene, Jon Hamm's role and lines, the conversation in the diner at the start of the film, the increasing antagonism between Rose Byrne and Kristen Wiig--was refreshingly hilarious. I agree that most of the movie was carried by Byrne, Rudolph, and Wiig, but the other bridesmaids were a nice touch, if just to add extra character dynamics. And the policeman was necessary to show that Wiig's life could be better, if only she would grow up (and his comedic timing when he meets Hamm is great). Maybe I loved it so much because I could completely identify with the identity crisis that Wiig was entering, or maybe I latched on because good female-centric movies are so sadly rare in this industry, but I would like to think that it's just a great movie with many funny but relatable circumstances. 4.5/5
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Oct 7, 2011 15:40
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 15:24 |
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This movie, like "Observe and Report" is really not a comedy. It's the story of a terribly depressed woman watching her life spiral out of control, punctuated by a few scenes shoehorned in as comedy tentpoles. They're even spaced out every 20-25 minutes so the audience has time to suspend the mild discomfort that comes from watching someone alienate everyone they know and not really try to help themselves. It's not a bad movie, it's just not at all the "Wedding Crashers" or "Hangover" for women that the marketing made it look like. It's a deeply cynical and unhappy movie with a terrible Hollywood style "solve this in a 5 minute montage OK cut to the final scene where things are all better" ending. 2/5. I don't think I laughed once, but I did smirk a couple times. Overall I'm just wondering if I watched a different movie named "Bridesmaids" than the rest of the world.
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Dec 8, 2011 08:56
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