Though I have a huge soft spot for mindless action movies (see my favorable reviews of The Mechanic and Fast Five), as a 20-year-old woman I’m also hard-wired to like cheesy chick flicks. So when I heard about Bridesmaids, produced by comedy vet Judd Apatow and directed by his former “Freaks and Geeks” partner Paul Feig, I was intrigued by the prospect of a “not-chick-flick” chick flick. Starring “Saturday Night Live” comedienne Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids follows Annie Walker, a Milwaukeean at a low point in her life, the unhappy maid of honor for her lifelong friend (former SNLer Maya Rudolph). I was a little wary about the idea of an Apatow/rom-com mash-up, but Bridesmaids was surprisingly hilarious and a little heartwarming.
I rarely find Wiig to be that funny on SNL, but I didn’t stop laughing for the two hours of this movie. Her Annie is awkward and ridiculous as her life spirals out of control, reminiscent of an American Bridget Jones but with real-life problems like unemployment. Wiig also has real chemistry with real-life friend Rudolph, and it’s clear that Feig gave them room to improvise – with spectacular results. In fact, the movie is filled with hilarious women. The bridal party is a motley crew of women connected to the bride, each with her own wonderfully played eccentricities. Ellie Kemper (“The Office”) is a sunny newlywed with Disney fantasies and a repressed sex life; Wendi McLendon-Covey is a bored-to-the-point-of-insanity housewife with far too many sons; Rose Byrne is the overly perfect and obscenely wealthy new friend attempting to replace Annie as best friend (including a one-upping toast scene at the engagement party that almost had me on the floor with laughter). The real scene-stealer is “Gilmore Girls” actress Melissa McCarthy as Megan, the sister of the groom, a raucous, sex-crazed, somewhat violent, and over-the-top character that, from the audience response, is the obvious fan favorite.
This being a supposed “chick flick,” there are, of course, some men in Annie’s life. Jon Hamm plays a man so vile that you almost forget how gorgeous he is. His Ted, who uses Annie as a booty call and “wants to tell her to leave but doesn’t want to sound like a dick,” is hilariously horrible. Luckily, there’s the adorable local cop Officer Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd) to both flirts with and attempts to help motivate Annie. Their banter gives the film a needed sweetness that balances the tone from the more extravagant comedic moments.
Bridesmaids is not perfect. There’s a long scene about food poisoning that gets pretty graphic with both vomit and feces, but even that got a lot of laughs. Bridesmaids is funny and wildly entertaining and will hopefully be the start of a genre that appeals to both men and women, where the women can be both funny and real while still getting a happy ending.
