Saturday, February 18, 2012

Bridesmaids (2011) - February Filmathon Film #9


On the Menu: BRIDESMAIDS (2011)

Ingredients: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Jill Clayburgh, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd, Rebel Wilson, Matt Lucas, Michael Hitchcock, Ben Falcone, Terry Crews and Richard Riehle. Directed by Paul Feig. Run time: 125 minutes. Rated: R.

At First Bite: This movie got a lot of hype. It was called the female version of THE HANGOVER. I held off on seeing it until the DVD release because almost every comedy deemed the next HANGOVER has disappointed.

Lillian (Rudolph) is getting married and has picked her life-long best friend, Annie (Wiig), to be her maid of honor. Annie feels threatened by Lillian's newest, and richest, friend, Helen (Byrne), who tries to plan everything from the engagement party to the wedding.

Annie is also dealing with a crappy "boyfriend," ridiculous roommates and recently saw her bakery go out of business.

Tough to Swallow: During the bridal shower, Megan has a brace on her right wrist. It's on her left wrist every other time we see her.

In the subtitles and credits, Air Marshal Jon is misspelled as 'Air Marshall Jon."

I never quite understood why Annie got the blame for the airplane incident.

Something to Chew On: This was Clayburgh's final film. Six months before the movie hit theaters, she lost her 21-year battle with chronic lymphocytic leukemia. She was 66.

Hamm is uncredited as Ted.

Feig has an uncredited cameo as a wedding guest.

Co-writer Annie Mumolo has a small role as the nervous woman on the plane.

Judd Apatow is one of the film's producers. Wiig and Mumolo are also credited as co-producers.

SNL alumni Nancy Carell (formerly Walls) and Melanie Hutsell are Helen and Annie's tennis partners.

McCarthy and Falcone, who played Air Marshal Jon, are married to each other in real life.

Nominated for a 2011 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay (Wiig and Mumolo).

McCarthy received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

There are two funny references to "The Brady Bunch" and "The Twilight Zone." Well, funny to me.

The wedding scene/song plays out a little longer over the credits, and there's a homemade tape featuring Megan and Air Marshal Jon.

Aftertaste: Even though my wife loves toilet humor, I find it interesting a comedy written by women contains so much of it. Those parts of the movie, plus McCarthy's Galifianakis-like antics, were funny, but I laughed more at Wiig's performance, especially her scenes with Rudolph. I think my favorite joke was early in the movie at the coffee shop when Lillian talks about how Ted wanted Annie to get dental work.

My favorite scene was definitely Annie losing it on the airplane. What kind of name is Stove? It might be the only time Wiig went over-the-top and was still funny.

The engagement party speech scene was slightly uncomfortable to watch at first. Redemption was found in having it drag out, plus seeing Lillian's reaction.

The appearance of my second favorite musical group of all-time (#1 being Huey Lewis & The News) was cool, and had me singing the song for the rest of the next two days.

I think Matt Lucas is a funny guy. I loved him in "Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire," a show that wasn't given a fair shake by Comedy Central. However, Lucas and Wilson, as the bumbling brother-sister roommates, bring nothing of substance to this movie. The run time could easily be 10-15 minutes shorter.

I'd say BRIDESMAIDS is the female equivalent of THE HANGOVER. Although, I'm still not sure it warranted two Oscar nominations. But, the Academy loves when women take on something that makes them look worse than they really are, e.g., Kathy Bates, Hilary Swank, Halle Berry, Charlize Theron, Renée Zellweger, Mo'Nique, etc.

Hopefully, Annie didn't catch the bouquet because THE HANGOVER PART II was disappointing.

Rating:

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