Bridesmaids (15): Reviewed (From Your Local Guardian)

Bridesmaids (15): Reviewed

11:27pm Wednesday 22nd June 2011

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Ok I’ll get this out of the way first. Like many other guys I thought that Bridesmaids was just another Chick-Flick aimed exclusively at the female market and ‘friends of Dorothy’. Pretty much the ‘Sex and the City’ audience. The TV trailer is appalling and if you were unlucky enough to have been hijacked in the cinema with the ‘gross-out’ teaser trailer while innocently watching Fast & Furious Five, then your instincts would be to avoid this film at all cost.

Having said that. The one redeeming factor that would possibly raise my curiosity to maybe give the film a chance is the very mention of it being a Judd Apatow (The 40-year-Old Virgin, Knocked-Up) movie.

This is the part when I have to stand up from my chair and announce to the group that ‘My name is Mark Foker...and I liked Bridesmaids’ Gasp! Yes, not only did I laugh out loud on more than one occasion but I am now recommending this movie to other people, including my fellow testosterone fuelled Neanderthals.

WARNING: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

Kristen Wiig who co-wrote the script plays Annie; a single thirty-something whose current relationship status is visiting a regular ‘sex buddy’ - in the form of smarmy male chauvinist playboy Ted (played as a cameo appearance by Jon Hamm). Annie bought into a bakery business just before the recession kicked in so she now works as an assistant in a jewellery store, a job that she detests. She frequently takes out her own relationship failings by being rude to the stores customers and we know it’s only a matter of time until she’s fired. Annie also gets evicted from her room in a house owned by a weird English brother and sister, played by Matt Lucas (yes our Matt Lucas) and Australian comedienne Rebel Wilson. In a nutshell her life sucks.

When her lifelong BFF Lillian (Maya Rudolf) tells her that she is to be married and wants her to be maid of honour, Annie suddenly finds a purpose in life with the responsibility of organising the wedding. The only problem is that Annie has to team up with an odd ball quartet of Bridesmaids. The worst one of all is Helen (Rose Byrne) the wife of Lillian’s fiancés boss who is a spoilt rich-bitch who just has to have everything done her way and becomes Annie’s nemesis in the fight for wedding planner extraordinaire. Annie just can’t compete with Helen and the full weight of her wealth and contacts behind her. There is a comical moment when the two of them try to outdo each other at the pre-wedding party, snatching the microphone on the podium with one-upmanship comments on how much Lillian means to each of them. The other motley band of Bridesmaids consist of newlywed Becca (Ellie Kemper), the long time married Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey) and Lillian’s loud and common sister Megan (Mike & Molly’s Melissa McCarthy).

In a twist of fate Annie meets up with a highway patrol cop Nat (Chris O’Dowd from The IT Crowd) who is the only really likeable character in the movie and the one person who the audience feel sympathy for. But is Annie ready for commitment?

Kristen Wiig does a good job at comedy writing and previously cut her teeth on episodes of Saturday Night Live in the US. She never lets the wedding theme get too gooey, in fact quite the opposite especially with that toilet humour scene. This was also actress Jill Clayburgh’s last movie, she passed away at the age of 66 in November 2010. In a comedy heavy on slap-stick it was nice to see that her role as Annie’s Mum had some dignity.

If you want a good laugh over the weekend give this one a try.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5