There are very few movies that, from about five minutes in, I can tell that I’m going to be buying it on DVD. Bridesmaids is definitely included in this group. It is the belly-laugh producing, somewhat disgusting, girlfriend-bonding movie promised in the trailer.
Kristin Wiig, who Lorne Michaels describes as one of the “Top three of Four SNL” performers ever on the show, delivers with an impressive script clearly improved by improvisation and fabulous comic timing. She and costar Maya Rudolph have excellent chemistry and really feel like best girlfriends, something not mastered by many of the fun chick movies lately (anyone else embarrassed by the choice of best friend in Easy A?).
Bridesmaids is likely to fall in the category of hilarious and slightly over-the-top girlfriend movies that have been an excellent staple for most girls (gay or otherwise) since the ‘90s. It will be included among the ranks of Romi and Michelle’s High School Reunion and Clueless.
Like these movies, the real relationship centers not on who the protagonist is dating (although it is, of course, a large part of the movie), but on the relationship between the protagonist and her best friend. Don’t get me wrong -- I love seeing movies that center on a romantic/sexual relationship (especially if there are two hot girls involved :: cough :: Scarlet Johansson and Olivia Wilde would be a good idea :: cough :: just saying :: cough::), but I don’t need every movie targeted at girls to be like that. And it’s really refreshing to see a well-made movie that clearly agrees on this point.
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This is not to say that this movie was perfect -- certainly the major flaw was probably the editing of the movie. Scenes went on for too long without providing new information (probably a result of increased improvisation in the process), but someone should have been there to trim down the fat. The movie itself was a little too long -- not that it wasn’t hilarious, but it was hard to tell when it was going to end. It felt as though a little too much time was devoted to watching Kristin Wiig hit various points of rock bottom while leaving some obvious parts of the script unexplored. For example, there are no scenes in the movie that actually take place in Vegas, something one would expect from watching the trailer.
In this way, the movie was not exactly what was promised -- as in it is not a female equivalent of The Hangover. Certainly it was in tone, just not quite in content. I am still waiting for a female version of that movie that is actually about Vegas, but for now I can only hope that someone decides to take on the task.
As well, while other movies in this genre balanced the tension between romantic relationships and friendship, the romantic relationships in this movie were somewhat poorly constructed. At Maya Rudolph’s character’s wedding, her character doesn’t even seem to be at all interested in the groom.
Not everyone will like this movie -- you have to be into poop and fart jokes (I, obviously, am) and a slightly more rambling style almost verging into Christopher Guest-style territory. However, if those two things sound entertaining to you and you love seeing a little girl-on-girl action of the non-sexual variety from time to time, Bridesmaids is definitely worth a shot.
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