Bridesmaids

Directed by: Paul Feig            
Run Time: 125 minutes
Release Date: May 13, 2011           

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy

                        With any wedding a lot of things start to take its toll on people.  For the groom it can be paying for the event and keeping his bride happy. For a bride there is all the planning and detail of putting the event in order to specifications that she wants. Then there is the maid of honor who is the bride’s right hand girl; she often helps with wedding planning, organizes that bachelorette party and keeps the bride calm.  It is no wonder why some friendships between bride and bridesmaids are tested.

            In the film Bridesmaids Anne is a woman that is down on her luck financially and in love. Then when her best friend becomes engaged she is thrilled for her but now she is given more responsibility that she can handle and events than she can afford. Will the other bridesmaids get the best of her or will she shine under pressure and be the perfect maid of honor?

       Kristen Wiig gives a great performance in her first leading role as the character Annie.  Her timing is spot on and she radiates the liveliness of her character. Her contributions to the film did not end at her acting since she was a Producer and Co-Writer on the script.  The collaboration with Annie Mumolo proves to be a lethal combination for a great script. Every character in the film that they create has their own personality and voice that contributes to the film as a whole. Not to mention that most of the jokes are actually funny which doesn’t accord that often anymore. Furthermore the commercials aren’t lying when they say that the movie can be enjoyed by anyone, even men.  Most look at a film with a predominant feel male cast and assume that it is a chick flick.  This film does by standards fall into this category but there were men at the advanced screening that was attended and they laughed their heads off. 
   Melissa McCarthy also has a supporting role in the film but gives a big punch to the film. McCarthy plays the groom's sister Megan who doesn't fit that girl persona that some people would see outside of a Redneck wedding as seen on CMT. She is a little more of a guy's girl or tomboy and talks like one too, ie the " I don't want to hear about my brother's junk" line that is in commercials. It is a far cry from her character of Molly on CBS's Mike & Molly as well as her perfectionist cook Sookie from Gilmore Girls but she nailed the outragiousness of it.  
    Bring in the love interest character is one of my fav Irishmen Chris O'Dowd. He is best known in the United States as Simple Simon from the film Pirate Radio, General Edwards in Gulliver's Travels and for those in the I.T. world possibly Roy from The IT Crowd (love that show). He play Rhodes, a police officer that the main character continuously has a run in with but is the kind of cop that you hope to meet if you ever get pulled over.  His character is the good guy that many girls want but may screw over because you aren't ready for him yet. This is a role that he has played before and he does it well, I fall for him during their first meeting.
    My biggest point that I could drive on this film is that it is not just a chic flick. There is comedy for everyone to enjoy from the silly stuff that you do with your friends to a scene that reminds me more of something from the Farrelly Brothers would do. In the end if a guy decided to take a date to see this movie I don't think either person would leave thinking the film sucked.