With that qualifier in mind, Bridesmaids is an unusual entry to the well worn genre: on one hand, I can't call a movie that includes a "girl talk" scene, two baking montages, and a surprise appearance by Wilson Phillips at the big wedding scene, just in time to sing the bride's favorite song, anything other than a "chick flick." The structure is pure "rom-com" - girl meets boy, girl pushes boy away, girl has meltdown, and boy comes back at the very end to drive away happily ever after.
Annie Walker (Wiig) is going through a rough patch when her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) announces she's getting married. When Lillian asks Annie to be her maid of honor, she takes on the responsibility of managing the bridal party: Rita (Wendy McLendon-Covey), Lillian's cousin tired of her husband and three children; Becca (Ellie Kemper), a newlywed with no life experience whatsoever; Megan (Melissa McCarthy), the groom's sister, a rude, crude, and socially unacceptable firebrand. Competing for Lillian's affection (and maid of honor title) is Helen (Rose Byrne), a wealthy homemaker who plans to lavish the bride in every possible way to upstage the lower-middle class Annie. Through her trials and tribulations of keeping everything afloat, Annie meets Officer Nathan Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd), possibly the only policeman in Milwaukee, a kind-hearted neighbor that takes a liking to our troubled heroine. Will Annie hang on as maid of honor? Will she realize that Rhodes is the right fella for her, and will they live heavily ever after?Okay, the "happily ever after" is where we deviate, because Bridesmaids (written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo and directed by Paul Feig) may be the most depressing "comedy" you're ever going to see, heaping soul crushing, life debilitating events on Annie Walker (Wiig), including but not limited to losing her bakery and all of her savings, being kicked out by her roommate (Matt Lucas) and his sister (Rebel Wilson), moving back in with her mother (Jill Clayburgh), and being labeled "number 3" *ahem* buddy by perpetually horny Ted (an uncredited Jon Hamm). There are moments in the film where I genuinely wondered where the comedy was supposed to be coming from, or if Bridesmaids was still supposed to be a comedy at all and not an Alexander Payne-esque exploration of middle-aged misery.
The funny thing is that Bridesmaids is often uproariously funny, and not in a cutesy, "chick" friendly way - the film alternates between vulgarity and gross-out jokes, and has a number of laugh-out-loud moments: a dress fitting that turns into a vomit and shit-fest, culminating with Maya Rudolph kneeling in the middle of a busy street, soiling a sample wedding gown; the airplane ride to Las Vegas tops that by cutting between a drunken Annie crashing first class, much to the chagrin of a beleaguered flight attendant (Mitch Silpa) and the back and forth between Megan and a man who may or may not be an Air Marshall (Ben Falcone). It also opens with a goofy sex scene between Wiig and Hamm that quickly spells out their relationship while generating laughs. The film doesn't quite go as far as the "glory hole" scene in The Sweetest Thing, but Wiig and Mumolo's script doesn't hold back on the profanity. This is unquestionably an "R" rated comedy.
Kristen Wiig carries the film effortlessly, only showing brief flashes of Saturday Night Live characters (mostly during the airplane sequence), and does more with just a look than most comedians are capable of. I'm not sure why Hamm went uncredited, but he plays a no-nonsense sleazeball as someone who doesn't seem to care that he just asked you to "take a nap in my lap" while driving you home from an accident. O'Dowd has an affable quality to him that reminds me of John Cusack or Dylan Moran*, and early scenes between O'Dowd and Wiig have a real spark. Maya Rudolph has the thankless role of being the bride fought over by the ladies, and has to react to most of the mayhem (dress ruining scene aside), and I'd rather not spoil a handful of smaller roles.
All of the bridesmaids have great moments, but the VIP actually goes to Melissa McCarthy, who at first seems to be the "comic relief" character, designated to be the butt of every joke (and at times, I mean that literally considering how many fart jokes are in the middle of the film). Instead, she emerges as the unsung hero of the film, without abandoning any of the off-kilter humor of the character "type" - Megan and Annie have a late heart-to-heart that's more genuine than most of the romantic comedy "turn-around" moments, and by the way also gives depth to McCarthy's character that Kemper, McLendon-Covey, and Byrne never get.
Speaking of which, I was worried about the escalation and one-up-smanship (sic?) between Annie and Helen was going to dominate the film - it certainly felt strained early on during the engagement party, and for a while felt like one of Wiig's Penelope sketches on SNL, but it eventually moves into an open hostility between the two, one that Annie seems to perpetually lose. The inevitable comeuppance at the end was crueler than I expected it to be, and introduces a neurotic side of Helen so late in the film it almost doesn't register.
I don't mean to harp on the film, but part of the dark, depressing side of Bridesmaids (and I have to imagine this was how Wiig and Mumolo wrote it) is the way the relationship with Officer Rhodes and Annie develops. In order to avoid a silly contrivance to break up their budding relationship, Wiig's Annie instead turns an innocent gesture on Nathan's part into an attempt to "fix" her, and she blows him off in a way that, well, you wouldn't blame him for backing off completely. Maybe this is just the guy in me talking, but the way she tears him down says "no seriously, this is not reverse psychology, you ruined this forever go away" and the ways she goes about trying to win him back while still completely ignoring simple things like fixing her brake lights (which causes a hit and run midway through the film), don't really justify the way the film ends.
(It does, I must say, set up a funny visual gag involving an apology cake he ignores and raccoons.)
Bridesmaids has been (understandably) confusing audiences - most of the people in the audience I saw the film with were female, with the scattered boyfriend along for the ride - but much of the movie generated laughs, if sometimes in different points. I don't want to suggest anyone thinking of seeing Bridesmaids not to see it; I think you'll find many things to like, if not love, about the film. If you're predisposed to atypical romantic comedies, particularly of the Judd Apatow variety (he produced the film and director Paul Feig is a Freaks and Geeks veteran), then Bridesmaids is more than a match for the just-released The Hangover Part II. My only caveat is that when Bridesmaids gets dark, it gets very dark, and if you're expecting bright and funny and feel good, it might be edgier than what you had in mind. But you will laugh, and laugh a lot, so that counts for something.
And now I've seen my prerequisite "chick flick" for the year. We'll get back to your expected gore-filled science fiction action slasher cult exploitation films tomorrow...
Postscript: Watching Bridesmaids gave the Cap'n the opportunity to see trailers I probably wouldn't see otherwise - What's Your Number with Anna Faris and Chris Evans, Larry Crowne with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, and The Change-Up with Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, possibly the most "guy friendly" movie of the three.
* Yes, I appreciate that Dylan Moran reminds most people, including me, of John Cusack.
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