On Friday night I went to see Bridesmaids with my friend B. It was a girls' night out and there were lots of other groups of girls there - the cinema was packed. This could have been attributed to the fact that most other movies on are either kids movies or male-centric blockbusters, but the fact is this movie is really, really funny and I think the word of mouth is what is getting bums on seats. It's been out for a few weeks now and is definitely holding its own judging from the session I attended.
Bridesmaids centres on the character Annie, played by Kristen Wiig who also co-wrote the script (the sweary girl from Paul, also had bit parts in Whip It and Adventureland and previously on Saturday Night Live). Annie has been friends with Lil (played well by Maya Rudolph, another fave from SNL) since childhood but the friendship is going to be strained by Lil's engagement and request that Annie be her maid of honour. Annie doesn't really seem to be in the right frame of mind to take on the chief bridesmaid's duties, but she agrees to do so, with hilarious results. You see Annie's life is in a bit of a mess - her small business failed, her boyfriend left her, she has a crap car and job she doesn't really like (and she is extremely unsuited to), her flatmates suck and her love life is pathetic. Her "friend with benefits" is a total dick but Annie hasn't noticed. Taking on the maid of honour duties and the endless round of parties/showers/outings it entails for the bride and the group of friends/relatives is the catalyst for some changes in Annie's life, not all good. Her competition with Helen (Lil's fiancee's boss' wife) spurs on some crazy situations - Helen is beautiful, rich, well connected and great at organising perfect parties and the tension between the two is instantaneous.
From start to finish, this movie is really funny, really engaging and mostly believable. I put a lot of emphasis on believability in movies I like and the way the various relationships unfold here are very believable and not as cliched as you might think. The relationship that grows between Annie and a cop who pulls her over for broken taillights is particularly warm and sweet and a refreshing take on guy/girl dynamics. Aussie Rose Byrne doesn't get much room to move as the "perfect" Helen but she does well. The girl who plays Megan, the fiancee's sister (the only real resemblance to the Hangover - the socially awkward sibling of the bride/groom) is also really funny, stealing the movie with most of the best lines. For me though Kristen Wiig really makes this film - she is so game, willing to make herself look bad/silly/pathetic/crazy and you really want her to get it together. Plus she has great hair, I couldn't stop staring at it and thinking "would my hair do that?".
There was a high level of audience participation in this movie too. We sighed when Annie was making bad decisions, hissed at the nasty man, pointed at the screen in amazement and shook our heads frequently. It was a noisy and supportive crowd. I think the test of a great movie is also in the post-movie analysis. If someone asks you how it was and you say "it was really good" or something, then it was merely okay. When B and I got home to the boys and they asked how the movie was, we didn't just say it was funny. We started quoting lines out of the movie and cracking up all over again, laughing really hard. Ben commented that we were acting like we were drunk or something. We weren't. We'd just seen a great comedy. Make sure you do.
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