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Posted : 12 years ago on 31 March 2012 09:14
I didn't expect much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for romantic-comedies, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, I turned out to be seriously average. I mean, I have to admit it, Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway were both quite charming but their characters were just so shallow and boring and the plot was not really entertaining at all. Actually, I thought it was sad to see them putting their friendship through this ordeal when they could have simply arrange a double wedding in June at the Plaza. Of course, they wouldn't have been any story to tell but it would have made much more sense. The only funny thing about this movie was that, when it was released, it was actually rather successful... I know, the average moviegoer doesn't have much critical sense but, still, what a waste of time and money... I mean, it was not really awful but it was just so generic and forgettable and, and above all, not really funny or charming whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have a weak spot for romantic-comedies, I still think it was pretty weak and it is not really worth a look, even if you love the genre.
Bride Wars Reviews
Numbing, excruciating, artistically bankrupt film
Posted : 14 years, 5 months ago on 29 November 2009 04:19
It's difficult to classify Bride Wars. It fails as a black comedy. It's not even remotely funny either, so it can't be considered a plain comedy either. As a satire of the bloated wedding industry, it also fails. As a drama about friendship and triumphing over all, it still fails. It'd probably be best to classify it as "an affront to God". Yeah, that works. Now, speaking in general, chick flicks can work if they are sharply written and amusing, but in the case of Bride Wars...RUN! RUN THE FUCK AWAY AS FAST AS YOU CAN! If a friend tries to force you into watching it with them, fake a coronary if you have to in order to get yourself out of there. Otherwise you'll be stuck watching the worst movie you've endured for a long time; yearning for a spare moment when you can commit suicide using the television remote or a nearby blunt object. Bride Wars is predictable, offensive and mundane, and entirely devoid of humour.
The film follows lifelong best friends Liv (Hudson) and Emma (Hathaway). Since they were little girls, the two have shared the same dream: a storybook wedding in June at New York's Plaza Hotel. Now in their mid-20s and engaged to nondescript men, the day has come to book the event at the desired venue. Through circumstances too sketchily explained to go into, both Liv and Emma are accidentally booked at the Plaza for the same day at the same time, and the next available slot is three years down the line. Neither of the women will relinquish their fantasy ceremony, so war is declared... And they have absolutely no problem tearing apart a friendship that has lasted so long.
Renowned critic Roger Ebert once coined the phrase "Idiot Plot" to describe the type of story that could be resolved if only the characters stopped being morons. Bride Wars spins off this notion to offer the "Jerk Plot", with a storyline that could be easily resolved if only the characters stopped being assholes. The women aren't willing to do a double wedding (the most logical option considering they are lifelong best friends), or do anything rational that might clear up the conundrum in 10 seconds. The set-up is just a flimsy excuse for a succession of lame revenge sequences, as the two women desperately try to sabotage each other's upcoming nuptials. This is where Bride Wars falls apart the most: the screenplay (courtesy of June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson) is packed with the dumbest and least inventive schemes. The other problem is that the screenwriters never develop the nerve to create the dark, nasty comedy the movie should have been. The tricks are nasty, but not cruel enough to work as inspired black humour - most are on the level of a subpar Punk'd episode.
Bride Wars is ultimately a numbing, excruciating, artistically bankrupt motion picture. Above all, it's a movie which mistakenly believes viewers will want to like these characters... But we end up hating them instead. And why not? They're mean-spirited, irrational and obnoxiously unlikeable. Even before they begin bitching and scheming, they still come across as superficial twits no-one would like to spend time with, let alone marry! By the time the third act is reached and the treasured/feared wedding day arrives, the screenplay sidesteps all the countless possible endings in order to present a copout conclusion that fails to satisfy on every conceivable level, and replaces the attempts at gags with attempts at sympathy for these detestable characters. For the most part, the grooms are forgotten throughout the movie, but are occasionally allotted screen-time in which they try to offer commonsensical advice before being inevitably shot down. Furthermore, this reviewer found the male positions far more rational and credible than those espoused by their brides-to-be.
Anne Hathaway does fare better than Kate Hudson (who looks distractingly odd throughout the entire movie), but neither are able to make their characters remotely endearing. One can't help but wonder how much longer Hudson will remain a viable leading lady given the string of indefensible comedies she has starred in over the last several years.
At the helm of Bride Wars is Gary Winick (Charlotte's Web, 13 Going on 30), who aggravates the flaws with a generic style punctuated by terrible decisions. The director operates on chick-flick autopilot here (much like the actors), assuming shots of Hudson with blue hair will trigger laughs, and that dialogue about Vera Wang wedding gowns will be sufficient to win over female viewers. Meanwhile the one-liners are strictly in PG territory, which means they're neutered to the point that they're uninteresting. There are also attempts at physical comedy that never comes close to triggering an outbreak of laughter. Furthermore, the movie tries to balance the all-out bitch-fest with a moralistic parable about the value of friendship. But in the end, it fails to satisfy. Everything about this film, from the gags to the messages to the cutesy last scene, feels numbingly obvious.
The problem is not that the characters are shallow and mean. The problem is not that they allow their own selfishness to control their behaviour. In a well-crafted black comedy, these elements are pluses. But Bride Wars is not a black comedy, nor is it well-crafted or clever or remotely enjoyable. Instead, it's so mean-spirited and so lacking in humour that the film cannot be recommend to anybody I don't feel like torturing.
0.5/10
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Clone Wars...
Posted : 15 years, 2 months ago on 18 February 2009 11:15
Two best friends become rivals when they schedule their respective weddings on the same day.
Kate Hudson: Liv
The romantic comedy is a type of film that relies on two obvious traits, the ability to make its audience laugh, and the ability to make that very same audience tear-up or at least feel some degree of warmth towards the central characters' love story. Bride Wars, which ostensibly at least, takes the form of your typical rom-com is an example of such that constantly tries to do the former and only hints at the latter only in the background in order to advance plot. The result from this is a middling and sluggishly mundane feature that neither offers memorable characters or even a few cheap laughs. To be fair, there has to be something said for the fact that I am not exactly within the movie's target audience criteria. Yet judging by the reactions of those around me, I got the feeling that what I was experiencing wasn't exclusively restricted to gender.
The story here, which zooms and focuses upon two best gal-pals Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) as they try to cope with their simultaneous weddings, is one that is likely to get a few chuckles from females, but less so with their male counterparts. Yes, this is somewhat expectant of a movie titled Bride Wars, but then again, if half of your audience are neglected to the sidelines then you're needlessly cutting yourself short. This stunted, polarizing depiction of "every girl's biggest day" feels fitting to its source material, so women will enjoy this moreso than men, but not by much. You see, aside from the fact that Bride Wars wants nothing more than to cater to cheap gags and sappy melodrama fit to please the Legally Blonde enthusiasts, there also remains blatant problems in just about everything else that fills the movie's first two acts. With little romance to back up the flimsy plot, dull, dry characterization coupled with non-existent chemistry between either the friends and their partners, or even themselves, the vast majority of Bride Wars turns ugly, rather quickly, the movie pushes that this cat fight between Hudson and Hathaway is meant to be fun and airy with plenty of laughs, but it's too transparent and formulated to even move beyond dry caricature.
It doesn't help at all that the majority of the performances from the main cast are remotely daft. Hudson and Hathaway, who are supposed to playing long-time best buddies whom suddenly fall out over a petty dispute, are strangely forgettable, if not repelling, like a pair of unidentifiable twins. In all fairness, both hit the proverbial hammer on the head with their portrayals as stock-pile, cardboard cut-out typecasts befitting of the genre and only the genre, but this isn't exactly saying much. The remainder of the cast, who each have around ten minutes tops of total screen time are just as unremarkable, with Kristen Johnston giving the movie its only real favour and edge. So, what's worse than a romantic comedy with next to no compelling or memorable performances? Not much.
To be lenient however, Bride Wars isn't really a romance at all. At least, that's what I derived director Gary Winick was trying to put across. If anything, the movie exists more as a mildly poignant example of companionship in the form of friends rather than romance. This tangent, which takes full form in the third act, for the most part surpasses the drudgery that comes beforehand, and establishes a touching, if slightly overly done sentimental climax. By all means, it's far too little, too late, but I at least found myself moved by the movie's final statement, even if it was by means of extreme contrast. Yet had Winick went with this theme for the majority of his film, rather than save it for after all the silly, perfunctory cat fight scenes that in turn just about destroy all human shades within his characters, Bride Wars could have been a much more flowing, and relevant feature instead of a strangely wafer thin comedy piece. Instead it exists simply as throwaway popcorn fodder for girls on a night out who have nothing better to do than to revisit the same old characters, wacky situations and sit-com dialogue typical of your average Top Model episode. This is certainly no Devil Wears Prada and it's definitely not going to be affirmatively, kept in memory.
''...But there's also the chance that the one person you can count on for a lifetime, the one person who knows you sometimes better than you know yourself is the same person who's been standing beside you all along.''
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When Bridezillas attack!
Posted : 15 years, 2 months ago on 6 February 2009 12:57
Sure it's fun watching the tricks that Liv and Emma play on one another but when you stop to consider it, what kind of a friendship do these two women really have when they are willing to trash it away for a wedding.
The characters are one dimensional - though Kate Hudson's character gets to stop being so perfect all time. However all the actors give their best given the circumstances so I can't fault their acting.
Also the story has no logic - once the women decide that their respective weddings are going to push through on the same day why do they insist on pulling tricks on one another?
I honestly don't know how a friendship can survive that kind of emotional pain so the convenient resolution and tacked on happy-ever-after ending falls into the realm of ridiculousness. Also the future love interest can be spotted a mile away.
I don't have that many expectations from a romantic comedy but Bride Wars really asks too much.
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