Bachelorette

A dark comedy starring three women. That's all the basic information you need to know this was not going to bide well with film snobs, much less the misogynistic ones. Bachelorette is a very humorous and fun movie that I had a great time with. I knew as soon as I got through watching it to come rate it on IMDb though that people would be bashing it, but I had no idea the backlash would be this harsh.

The story is simple enough: Four high school friends all get together to relive their glory days as one, the most unattractive (Rebel Wilson), is about to get married. The bridesmaids consist of high-strung Kirsten Dunst, burnout Lizzy Caplan, and dim-witted but lovable Isla Fisher, which in my opinion Isla Fisher absolutely stole the show. I loved it. It is very mean and in your face with it's brutality. You almost wonder why these women are even friends to begin with, but unlike everyone saying there is no reason, the film ties up all it's loose ends and shows how all of the women have their own battle scars and shining personalities in the end.

Don't let the comments and rating shy you away from this one, there are some gut-busting scenes. Like I said, Isla Fisher was magnificent. I thoroughly enjoyed and believed in her character, not to say the other stars didn't deliver, she just outshines them!

I feel like a lot of people are giving this movie flack because they're comparing it to Bridesmaids. That's the problem with movie-goers. We call each movie, the next or the imitation or worst than or better than. On it's own, Bachelorette did really well. It's a dark comedy/ raunchy film but it's done so well. It's not common in Hollywood that you have movies where women are complex as the men. Some reviews state that they find the characters to not be redeeming, but I think that's what makes Bachelorette so strong. We have 3 complex, intriguing, and yeah, messed up individuals. What it gives you is a very plausible comedy. A review online called this the mix between Mean Girls + Bridesmaids. Aside from the similar wedding scenario, this is more the women version of the Hangover and fused with Mean Girls. Check it out, it's a good laugh ride if you're into dark comedies.

The Bachelorette (2012)

Wow. Basically horrible, sexist, weightist (if that's a word), and badly written. And badly edited. And routinely filmed and directed. It even has some good talent (Kirsten Dunst is the big name) and a decent basic if familiar idea--a girl gets engaged and her friends all go to the wedding where things go wrong and lots of old skeletons come out of the closet.

The humor is purposely trashy party humor. This is where a certain audience might have fun with it. It didn't work at all, most of the time. (There are partial exceptions, like the early scene on the plane where the woman tells a stranger man next to her the nuances of giving a blow job.)

So, what is the point of all this? It's mostly just young people incredibly mindlessly liberated, with lots of fun sex and drugs, and lots of old baggage and new lovers popping up and crossing paths. The scenes are lively, the music lively, the jokes, well, lively (which is not always funny, though there are some laughs).

The director and writer is Leslye Headland, and yes, she has to take almost all the blame, though the producers must have seen something, maybe a pretty face, that blinded them to the reality. But then, this is her first film on both scores (she was a stunt driver in one other movie prior), so we have even more questions marks--why her, why her?

Mostly this is horrible. And stupid. And horrible! There, I got it out. Squandered a good hour plus.

This movie is funny once you get it. There is a big dip in quality the middle of the film (cliches and ridiculous scenarios) and it gets below average, but the writing upkicks again and it end well.

The overall trouble with this film is the characters and friendships are not established very well. As a result, it takes a while for the viewer to believe the premise of the movie (ie: why are three popular girls going to the unpopular girl's wedding as her bridesmaids?). The aspect that I struggled to understand the most, is that the director/writers do not make clear WHY the women remain friends. Yes, we know they went to High School together, obviously, but WHY have they remained in contact? Considering that two of the women now live in New York, and two now live in LA, and the three main characters barely disguise their contempt for Rebel Wilson/ the Bride... so why are they in the Bridal Party again?

This movie clearly wasn't marketed well - it is not Bridesmaids, and it is not a rom- com. The poster is awful. What is that composition, honestly?! In the end, if you go into this movie knowing it is a DARK COMEDY WITH UNLIKEABLE CHARACTERS, you'll probably enjoy it. Once I figured out the characters are assholes and are MEANT to be assholes, then it was pretty funny in parts. Not all women are "nice" and "sweet" and "kind". And they don't have to be.

To be honest, I watched this film as my testosterones were firing on full once they heard the cast included Kirsten Dunst and Isla Fisher, not only are these two beautiful women but powerful and talented actresses. Then the cast just got stronger with Rebel Wilson, James Marsden, and Adam Scott all of which I've seen in better movies.

Bachelorette goes to show that you can still have a bad film with a great cast. Unfortunately, it;s the story and the implausible characters, which I found annoying and quite unbelievable. I am also tired of film-makers and writers trying to show drug addiction in a brighter light than it really is. I know addicts and none are like Isla Fisher's and Lizzy Caplan's characters. I find this to also be degrading to family and friends who know people suffering drug addiction. These people would not keep watching this film. There was no reason for this to even be in the movie, it just seemed like a "Quick Fix" to add some immature comedic moments. The writers and director should've taken a more responsible approach. With a little bit of work and creative writing, they would've had a stronger story and film.

So it sounds like I'm coming down on the movie and that I didn't like it, well if it hadn't been for Kirsten Dunst and Rebel Wilson I would've turned this off quite early. Because of them, I stayed to the end, and even though I suffered feeling embarrassed for the actors at the start of the movie, I wasn't too upset at the end of the film, where everything works out okay in the end.

This film suffers from weak writing and mediocre direction and could've been so much better. There are some good giggle moments, but nothing in the laugh-out-loud. If Immature humour is your thing then you may like this.