Bridesmaids

My friends invited me to a preview screening of Bridesmaids last night, and I accepted the invitation with a sense of cautious optimism. The trailer for the film admittedly didn't do much for me, but I was intrigued by the concept of a female-driven Apatow film. Ultimately, I went into the theater with modest expectations, hoping to get a few good laughs out of it.

By the time we came out of the theater, my three friends and I had smiles plastered across our faces, and we couldn't stop talking about the film for the next couple hours. We all loved it. I think it easily ranks with the best of the Apatow productions, and it might even be my personal favorite. Like all of Apatow's productions, there are admittedly scenes that arguably go a little too far or a little too long, but that's a small criticism when the film successfully fires on so many other cylinders.

To start with, the film is hilarious, and I think the comedy far exceeds the standalone bits shown in the trailer. Scene after scene is filled with humorous and often sidesplitting moments, and they had the theater in an uproar during the screening. I can't say enough about Kristen Wiig. Prior to this, I've always liked her to some extent but never really loved her. I think she's good at what she does, but I wasn't sure her shtick could sustain an entire film. Would her passive aggressive wit get old? Is it the only note she can play? Can she handle anything more dramatic? Ultimately, she blew me away in this film. Not only is she consistently and uniquely funny, but her character is surprisingly well-developed, and Wiig brings the character to vibrant and dynamic life on-screen.

And this brings me to my next point about Bridesmaids: the film has a surprising amount of depth that completely caught me off guard. Bridesmaids isn't a quickie 80-minute gag fest by any stretch of the imagination; it's actually a leisurely paced 2-hour character-driven comedy that takes time to develop its characters and establish the various relationships and resultant conflicts between them. Ultimately, the film ends up being quite heartfelt and even rather sad in places. Despite the over-the-top antics shown in the trailer, the themes that the film explores are actually quite grounded. Kristen Wiig's character is someone who is feeling completely let down by life, which is a place we've all been, and the personal journey of her character resonated strongly for me. While her character is easily the most well-developed of the bunch, even the other bridesmaids ultimately show some three-dimensionality as well, despite the fact that they are sometimes initially introduced as two-dimensional caricatures.

Ultimately, Bridesmaids was one of the most enjoyable comedies I've seen in a long time. It's certainly not perfect: it could probably do with some editing, there might be a few too many subplots (some of which are left unexplored), and it arguably goes too over-the-top at times, but everything else about the film works so well that these complaints are little more than nitpicks. While I applaud everyone involved in the production, it is Kristen Wiig who deserves the most accolades. As co-writer and lead actress, she plays a huge part in the film's success, and I sincerely hope this film puts her on the Hollywood map, as I would love to see more from her in the future. Whatever the case may be, Bridesmaids certainly makes for a successful maiden voyage for her into the world of feature-film comedies.

Kristen Wiig is one of the rarities from Saturday Night Live that was able to be great on the show and make the transition to films successfully. Bridesmaids was one of the best examples of this. It is more than just the use of a character, or trope, in a feature film. It is the use of a powerfully gifted comedian in a smart, funny role. It is the female counterpart to the male driven Hangover. Wiig is beautifully supported, and enhanced, by Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, and SNL's Maya Rudolph. Melissa McCarthy is shocking and funny in this one. She has some of the film's funniest scenes. Judd Apatow did a terrific job making a film driven by an all female cast that is not just for women. Jon Hamm has a small, buy very funny role in this one.

There are many prickly relationship comedies, many wedding related comedies, many gross-out comedies, many my-life-is-a-mess comedies and many comedies that shoe-horn in a romance.

This has all those familiar elements but it works really well. It is well-paced despite the long run time, with a good mix of the various elements that keeps the entertainment and comedy value strong. Importantly the characters and relationships seem believable which makes the comedy parts so much more effective when they happen.

Kristen Wiig plays the lead character and co-wrote (taking care to include romantic associations with two really attractive guys). Wiig is really funny and effective in the role. I also really enjoyed the performances of Rose Byrne and Chris O'Dowd. Melissa McCarthy is good and her bit on the plane was really funny.

I haven't finished watching bridesmaids for the first time I just saw the moment when Melissa McCarthy character says she never bloats. That It's a gift.

She is so adorable while saying this! I watched this moment several times. She really is a very talented actress! Love her!

So far it is very entertaining movie except one or two uncomfortable script moments. Wedding speech scene was hilarious. So was tennis game. Girly competition. Kristen Wiig and Rose Byrne are both great. Sometimes it gets sad like cupcake scene but it is funny at the same time.

I'm going back to watching the rest of the movie. There was one scene with Chris O'Dowd. Can't wait to see more of him. Another talented actor. Love him as well.

Annie's life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love. (C) Universal

When I saw the trailer for BRIDESMAIDS, I didn't see anything special with it. There were maybe a couple of good jokes in there but nothing really hilarious to make me wanna see it right away. However, after the end credits rolled from a prescreening I went to, I have to admit it: It's freaking hilarious! To put this into perspective, I don't like many modern comedies, so this is saying a lot. There was one sequence in the film that was so funny and so shocking that I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in a film EVER! To say that the trailer doesn't do the film justice is an understatement. However, on the up side, the trailer doesn't show the funniest jokes in the film like most trailers for comedies do these days (don't you hate it when that happens?).

And no. BRIDESMAIDS is not a chick flick. There are some raunchy scenes in here that you have NEVER seen in any other film before. Let's remember, this is a hard R-rated Judd Apatow production, so this film shouldn't be taken very lightly. It's not to say that BRIDESMAIDS is one of the best comedies of the decade. In fact, as much as I laughed throughout the film, it does slow down after the first hour with the second hour not being nearly as funny as the first. Still, I laughed out loud pretty frequently, which is a feat hard to pull off on someone like me.

BRIDESMAIDS is also pretty heartfelt. This is mostly due to the wonderful ensemble cast, who are all fantastic in their own way. Kristen Wiig FINALLY gets the chance to shine in a starring role! Honestly, this girl can carry a film on her own. Maya Rudolph was also great. Seeing the dialogue exchange between her and Wiig made their chemistry feel very authentic which is no surprise since they were in SNL together. It's also fun to see Rose Byrne in more comedic roles, who was also in GET HIM TO THE Greek and this year's sleeper hit, INSIDIOUS(!!).

I think an obvious audience favorite from the group of girls would be Melissa McCarthy. She provides some of the films biggest laughs and for a good reason. Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey are the remainders from the group and they were pretty good, but they aren't as prominent as the other girls. There are also some guys in the cast, most notably Chris O'Dowd and Jon Hamm. O'Dowd did a good job playing Wiig's love interest (and you can pretty much see where this is going...), and Hamm did well for the limited amount of screen time he had.

Sure, BRIDESMAIDS is predictable as hell but so are 99.9% of other modern comedies. However, it's strong proof that one can make a comedy about women without it ever being stupid, sexist, or mean-spirited. Overall, it's just plain old entertaining, hilarious, and heartwarming. Who knew? Also, with the "HANGOVER with girls" comparison, BRIDESMAIDS is a much funnier, insightful, and honest film than THE HANGOVER ever was.