Bridesmaids Review

Rating: 4/5

It's not fair to assume that women can't be as crude and as raunchy as men. It's borderline sexist, but it's also not true. I think this stereotype really originates from the culture of terrible romantic comedies that are the norm in America. Those movies portray either strong women who give in to the hunk du jour, or women who need the hunk du jour to survive. Thank god for Kristen Wiig and Bridesmaids.

Annie (Kristen Wiig) is complicated. She's in a casual sex relationship with Ted (Jon Hamm) but wants more romance. She wants to just live but she gave up on her dream bakery business. She meets the nicest guy ever (Chris O'Dowd), but can't let herself be happy. One day, Annie's best friend (Maya Rudolph) is getting married, and Annie is the maid of honor. However, Annie enters into a rivalry with the beautiful, rich, caring Helen (Rose Byrne), and the spiral of hijinks begins.

Let me address my earlier statement, "thank god for Kristen Wiig and Bridesmaids." I say this because I think Bridesmaids might be the smartest female comedy I've ever seen. The cast of women, aside from the brilliant character of Megan, aren't especially quirky until they are developed, which they are wonderfully. Every character is unique, smart, and, with the exception of no-one, very, very funny.

Instead of the standard romantic comedy character arc of: 1) What a cute guy!! 2) Wow, it turns out this guy is deeper than I thought!! 3) I hate him! We got into an argument based on a trick/misunderstanding!! 4) 20 minutes of pouting!! 5) Happy ending!!!, we get human characters, especially with Kristen Wiig. While Annie is a complete mess, we can't help but love her and want her to succeed. By the end of Bridesmaids, I wanted something good to happen to Annie so badly, because I thought she deserved it.

Even though there are a bunch of gags girls wil get more than guys, Bridesmaids is one of the funniest movies I've seen in 2011. Its humor can be gross, but overall is very smart and in many parts, downright hysterical. Some people may be turned off by the apparent girliness, but Bridesmaids is really, really worth your time and money.