Bridesmaids (2011)

4/5

i saw this the other night with my very dear friend Jacqueline, aka Jacqui and/or Jax (but isn't the name Jacqueline really just SO pretty?). anyway, we hadn't seen each other in, like, forever (few months?) and although we constantly BlackBerry messenger sexually-harass each other, we were due for a date. and so, along with dinner, we decided to catch a flick as well (the last movie we saw together was The Other Boleyn Girl (2008), so it was absolutely time for another good friend flick). ANNNND, because this august i'm going to be one of Jacqueline's bridesmaids when she ties the knot (!!!!!), OF COURSE Bridesmaids was. the. movie. 

i had avoided all reviews and trailers for Bridesmaids, but i had heard from several friends that they had "pissed themselves" laughing (ok, that's good - we were headed in the right comedy direction). and it WAS funny, very funny - but it was also not what i expected. i thought it was gonna be a movie about all the bridesmaids, all friends, partying it up on the hen night, Vegas-styles (i was sorta thinking The Hangover, but with vaginas). but Bridesmaids wasn't that at all...

and before i knew it, i was glad it wasn't what i expected.

so, let's start with the opening scene with Jon Hamm, shall we? because i think all opening scenes of every movie should begin with Jon Hamm.

i bloody LOVE Jon Hamm - he is SO sexy as Don Draper in Mad Men...

but in this?

ugh. total douche skeeze. 

and the fact that he can play one SO well makes me love him even more. SO, we've got Jon Hamm ramping things off, so already there we've started this movie off right, because the way he humps (yes, HUMPS) is bloody hilarious. at the receiving end of his humping is the main character, Annie (played perfectly by Kristen Wigg). Annie's life is a bit of a f-cking mess - from her job, to her roommate(s) (Matt Lucas - Little Britain!), to her love-life - it ain't going too well for our gal. and then when she finds out that her best and oldest friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) is getting married and she's gonna be the maid of honour, well... it's really just a free-fall from there. 

what i was surprised by and didn't expect was that all the bridesmaids are NOT friends with one another. (i think maybe the poster gave me that initial impression? perhaps it was the way they're posing? like, that they're all cool "together"? i don't know.) anyway, the ladies are an odd mix - the childhood friend, the raunchy and boisterous sister of the groom, the new/cool/rich/gorgeous/"perfect" friend, the quiet uptight "good girl" work-colleague friend, and the bitter-mother cousin friend with the jerk-off teen kids and asshole husband. and that's often exactly what REAL bridesmaids are, right? a handful of strangers who don't have much (or maybe anything) in common, except for this one friend they share.

and the dynamic between the women is great. it totally works. each plays her part wonderfully. i love, LOVE the scene at the restaurant when Annie and Lillian are talking about having flopping dicks in their faces - SO funny. and REAL! not the dicks in the face per se, but how these women TALK and LAUGH. because holy sh-t. when i'm with my girls (apart from when we vent emotionally) we laugh our f-cking balls off. we're raunchy. we talk about sex, about dicks (the good and the bad), we gossip, we shit-talk. we have FUN. and so do Annie and Lillian... UNTIL we meet Lillian's new(er) friend Helen (Rose Byrne).

and then things become funny in a different way because the dynamic between Annie and Lillian changes - up comes competitiveness, jealousies, envy, feelings of obligation, pressure - all that good real stuff that can happen if a wrench is thrown into a good friendship. so, to see that the movie successfully looks  at this double aspect of friendships between women, REAL WOMEN, that one day will cry and complain to their best friend about that asshole we shouldn't have drunk and dialed the night before, and then the next day laugh our asses off talking about cheese dicks - this is what the movie was able to do authentically.

as i write this, i'm having a hard time thinking of many really funny (let alone authentic) female comedies. it's difficult, isn't it? i could name you 20 really killer-funny comedies with men off the top of my head, but our gals are kinda left in the wings, non? i'm not gonna burn a bra here, but my point is, is that this movie was a great example of what female comedies should be. real AND funny.

there were some scenes when i was literally so happy to be alive because i was able to see them. my favourite is when the ladies are in the dress shop and Annie is sweating, sick to her stomach, FORCING herself to eat that almond. oh dear god. it was so funny it hurt me. HURT! (that whole food poisoning scene is pretty epic.) i also really like Annie at work at the jewellery store - the way she interacts with customers is great. she's so perfectly bitter. and i really love how subtle Kristen Wiig's delivery is - but you gotta LISTEN to her, folks! because she says a lot of things under her breath that are GOLD, and since you're laughing out loud, her one-liners are easy to miss. the scenes with Megan (Melissa McCarthy) are also fantastic - the air marshal? the puppies? SO GOOD. and how Annie and Lillian hide behind the tree to take part in the booty boot camp (for free?) amazing. all the women - what wonderful comediennes! *fist pump*

to throw some testosterone into this review, i gotta say that the male supporting characters were also great - i was in love with the cop who played Annie's love interest (Chris O'Dowd). SO cute. and of course, Jon Hamm and his humping. 

the more i think about this movie, the more i love it. 

i wanna see it again.

and then i'm gonna buy it on blu-ray.

but first i'm gonna be a dutiful bridesmaid.

in fact...  

Jacqui, i promise that i'm going to be a wonderful friend and bridesmaid to you - i vow to not fight with any of the other bridesmaids, or make them feel uncomfortable with awkward comments and/or snide remarks. i promise to be kind, and supportive, and be there for you when you need me (especially if you get food poisoning after some bad chicken - i will hold your hair, and even your dress). i promise to not hijack the microphone at your wedding, nor will i cause a scene at your shower by destroying the enormous heart-shaped "J+G" cookie, or go mental on the chocolate fountain. 

*please note however, that i cannot promise you that there won't be raunchy sex talk (although i do promise not in front of the nannas).

xo