Bridesmaids (2011)

[Edgy MD]

Downwardly mobile sadsack draws the maid of honor straw for the wedding of her upwardly mobile best friend.

Hijinks? Oh, they ensue.

[Vic Sage]

gross out guy-bonding comedy meets chick flick for inconsistent results. Its like if THE VIEW had a bastard love child with THE HANGOVER and spawned a strangely sweet kid, surprisingly bright but with a personality disorder that caused her to fling feces around like a deranged chimp.

[Edgy MD]

I liked it more than that. I was surprised.

[Vic Sage]

did that make it sound like i didn't like it? hmm.

I did like it. I thought it had funny moments, and i liked Wiig and Maya Rudolph's relationship, and Melissa McCarthy is one strangely compelling actress.But i found Wiig's character really unsympathetic and whiny, so i wasn't rooting for her as hard as i needed to in order to LIKE IT like it, as the girls say.

[Edgy MD]

i liked Wiig and Maya Rudolph's relationship,

Yeah, it was a relationship you can immediately recognize, but is almost never depicted onscreen. It was almost like the writers and directors and actors have hung out with actual human beings in the last 10-20 years.

and Melissa McCarthy is one strangely compelling actress.

Yeah, you give in to that character despite yourself, don't you?

But i found Wiig's character really unsympathetic and whiny, so i wasn't rooting for her as hard as i needed to in order to LIKE IT like it, as the girls say.

I hear you, girlfriend. She was weak and self-destructive, but I think it's a virtue that she was such a fuck-up, assuring me that I'm not watching another Q-Rating-driven piece of excrement. My wife made unfamiliar noises of recognition and sympathy from the get-go, and while you're welcome to believe that says more about her than the filmmakers, I appreciated it.

I figured a movie called Bridesmaids could have been one of two things. One, it could have been a saccharine unfunny overglamourous rom-com starring Jennifer Lopez, Kate Hudson, and makeup, fashions, and hairstyles that paid their way into the movie. Two, it could have been a crude sendup by a second-rate John Waters exploding the whole exploitative wedding industrial complex and accompanying bridesmaid humiliation. I gave it a chance because I heard from a friend how she was present at the genesis of this thing and saw it through as the creators developed it and loved it the whole way. That friend is of the female persuasion and living in Hollywood, but I thought, "what the hell?" It was both sentimental and crude but damned if they didn't find a third way.

(Minor Spoiler Alert: At one point in this film, a re-united Wilson Phillips appears onscreen. The three singers, while not shown close-up, are clearly shellacked in a horrifying amount of makeup. It comes late enough in the film, that as I noted it, I thought, "Oh yeah, that's kind of what I was expecting from this whole film.")

At some points, as the tension mounts and the protagonist makes some terrible choices that expose her to bitter humiliation, I found myself reduced to some Three's Company-type embarrassment where I was physically moved to turn away from the screen or wipe my hands on my clothes, but I was committed to see it through, and am glad I did. I think women will recognize the characters with the same sort of endearing embarrassment that men had for the characters in SuperBad, and I really think the creators have a good chance at having a perennial on their hands here.

[Vic Sage]

At some points, as the tension mounts and the protagonist makes some terrible choices that expose her to bitter humiliation, I found myself reduced to some Three's Company-type embarrassment where I was physically moved to turn away from the screen or wipe my hands on my clothes, but I was committed to see it through....

This, absolutely. But...

..., and am glad I did.

this, not quite so much.

I think women will recognize the characters with the same sort of endearing embarrassment that men had for the characters in SuperBad...

Yeah, but my wife absolutely hated it. And i totally hated SUPERBAD for much the same reasons. I don't find the characters' embarrassments, or mine for recognizing the emotional truthfulness of their unsympathetic behavior, particularly entertaining. Or even enlightening. These sorts of exercises are just sort of a wallow in our worst choices, as human beings. And i no more prefer to have my nose rubbed in how stupid, selfish, self-destructive, whiny and pathetic we can be as a species than my dog used to enjoy having my dad rub his face into the pee puddle he had left on the kitchen linoleum.

[Edgy MD]

Superbad thread. Love the old Fgirl avatar.

[Ceetar]

Vic Sage wrote: gross out guy-bonding comedy meets chick flick for inconsistent results. Its like if THE VIEW had a bastard love child with THE HANGOVER and spawned a strangely sweet kid, surprisingly bright but with a personality disorder that caused her to fling feces around like a deranged chimp.

This is what I expected from the previews, though I expected(well, expect, I haven't seen it) I won't like it. Although I'm sure at one point I'll see it. Come to think of it, I watched almost no movies before I met my wife.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I liked it more than Wifey, but we both had some laughs.

I know this was all superflous but I wanted more comedy from foulmouthed slut mom & newlywed chick. The fat one was a scream.

[ashie62]

I liked the Bridal shop being defiled and Wiig pulled over for DWI, otherwise ugh.

[Guest themetfairy]

I finally got around to watching this on On Demand. It was ok, but didn't particularly grab me. It didn't really appeal to my sense of humor, and I didn't find the characters or relationships to be all that sympathetic.

[smg58]

I agree with Vic about Melissa McCarthy, who was easily the best thing about the movie. Unfortunately, I also agree that the lead character got less and less sympathetic as the movie went on.

[Edgy MD]

Well, if you don't like this film, you're sure to be disappointed in the sequel, Bridesmaids Revisited.

You just know it's coming.

[TransMonk]

Three stars.

The assessments given above are all accurate. Borrowed a lot from The Hangover and Superbad.

They did make Milwaukee look much prettier than it actually is. Wifey spent much of the movie critiquing the filmmakers' ability to re-create her hometown...and they did remarkably well. The state troopers car was remarkably accurate except for the license plates (which were Wisconsin plates, but the numbers would never be formatted that way and the staties have different plates than regular folks). There was also an instance where a street corner address was given, but we're not sure those streets actually exist in Milwaukee proper.

It was an enjoyable way to pass a Saturday night. Wifey still has the Wilson Phillips song stuck in her head this morning.

[Edgy MD]

I thought the two characters were from Milwaukee, but it was set in the Chicago region.

[TransMonk]

It confused us too, and seemed to bounce back and forth. But the trooper was definitely Sconnie. All of the opening city scenes are Milwaukee, too.

The wedding and party's and junk were set mostly in Chitown, though. I think the "new" best friend lived in Chicago but the rest of the peeps lived in Milwaukee.

Also, I found it strange that Andy Buckley who played David Wallace on The Office played the groom's boss, but didn't have any lines in the movie.

[Ceetar]

watching it right now. They just failed to get to Vegas. I'm..I dunno, mildly entertained? Granted, I'm photoshopping little kids into a bowl of M & Ms while I'm watching, so I'm only giving it like 77% attention.

[Frayed Knot]

TransMonk wrote: It confused us too, and seemed to bounce back and forth. But the trooper was definitely Sconnie. All of the opening city scenes are Milwaukee, too. The wedding and party's and junk were set mostly in Chitown, though. I think the "new" best friend lived in Chicago but the rest of the peeps lived in Milwaukee.

Yeah, they obviously meant to use the Milwaukee/Chicago split as a way to emphasize the gap between the poor-er Wiig against the more upscale (and up-marrying) Rudolph & her newer friends. There was even a line where someone said to Wiig; 'oh, you're still living in Milwaukee' as if she didn't feel badly enough about herself than to be reminded that she wasn't good enough to make the 100+ mile move down to Chi-town.
So while the scenes with Wiig and the cop were in Milwaukee, the rest were the Chicago area.

[Ceetar]

gave it 2.5. It wasn't bad, although very stereotypical and predictable. Definitely had some funny/ridiculous moments though, and was very watchable.

[Frayed Knot]

I noticed this flick on a surprising number of year-end TOP TEN lists.

Not that I thought it was terrible, but the critical reviews seemed better in most cases than did ordinary person reviews (like what we've got here for instance) and while that's certainly not all that uncommon it does seem so for this type of movie.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Someone gave this a 1/2 * rating? Do tell.

[Ceetar]

I kinda like this movie even less in retrospect.

[Fman99]

Edgy DC wrote: Superbad thread. Love the old Fgirl avatar.

Belated thanks.



Time sure does fly.