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In all honesty, there are males out there who are going to immediately presume that Bridesmaids is going to be just another chick flick that we’ve seen year after year, as it appears to have familiar concepts like we have seen in the TV series of Sex And The City and the two feature films due to the relationships and social behaviour between female friends and relatives. However, Bridesmaids became a rather unexpected surprise and somehow miraculously surpassed its chick flick outlook and turned into an absolutely hilarious comedy that is suitable for males as well as females.
Having said that the plot of the film is very basic and is rather short and sweet, Bridesmaids lasts approximately 2 hours and it is neither rushed nor incredibly slow. It has the ability to fit in the time to understand the characters and it manages to turn itself inside out, so to speak, as the comedy within dominantly surpasses the soppy girly story. The style of humour in Bridesmaids has familiar concepts to 2009 hit comedy The Hangover due to the combination of running gags and hilarious and awkward situations on a life-changing adventure. In fact, Bridesmaids is just like The Hangover but with females.
Being the guy who went on to produce (and occasionally direct and write) some of the most popular comedies of this generation but has received either mixed or a negative overall critical response, Judd Apatow has made a name for himself and has been part of a few successful comedies (e.g. Superbad, Knocked Up, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy), but his latest hit Bridesmaids is quite possibly the finest film that he has ever done. As for director Paul Fieg, who has only directed episodes from television shows directs only his second film and although his previous and debut feature: Unaccompanied Minors did not gain widespread acclaim let alone hardly any recognition at all, he goes on to make his breakthrough with Bridesmaids.
Kristen Wiig has made frequent cameo and supporting appearances in films produced by Judd Apatow (Knocked Up, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), and she takes not only the leading role in Bridesmaids, but also serves as co-writer (her first script) alongside other screenwriter and actress Annie Mumolo who appeared in the film too. Wiig gives a performance to remember as Annie, the young woman who is almost completely alone and perhaps feels she needs to be this maid of honour in order to make something out of her life. Wiig provides a rather bitter yet absolutely hilarious and rather sexy approach to Annie’s character and as result; she deserves her Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy.
Especially when it involves Annie, the film consists of typical issues from the average chick flick like jealousy, insecurities, narcissism, cat fights, self-doubt, self-pity, self-destruction that we generally see in real-life between young women. Helen is an almost perfect enemy for Annie in this case. Rose Byrne, who had already starred in James Wan’s latest horror film Insidious and X-Men prequel X-Men: First Class, Byrne’s performance as Helen is entirely different but it was very good as there are so many hilarious yet rather serious sparks between herself and Annie. Melissa McCarthy gives without a doubt the funniest performance of the film as Megan who is a rather similiar character to Alan Garner, portrayed by Zach Galifianakis, in The Hangover and it’s sequel. Wendy McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper are added to the mix and make the female wolf-pack even funnier, and expect a nice surprise appearance from British comedian and actor Matt Lucas.
Overall, Bridesmaids is one of the most surprisingly brilliant films that don’t often come our way very often. This is not a chick flick, it’s an adventure comedy that goes through experiences of priceless disastrous events and use of vulgar language and humour, but it also has a heart that will move its audiences. It rightfully deserves a Best Picture - Musical/Comedy nomination at the Golden Globes and it makes its mark as Judd Apatow’s greatest comedy to date and one of the most entertaining films of 2011.
8/10
