If you’re thinking of writing this one off as a chick-flick, don’t. The premise, of course, is girly, but all the humor is perfectly unisex, thanks to comedic genius Kristen Wiig.
Wiig’s character, Annie, has hit rock bottom, her bakery’s gone bust, she’s parted ways with her boyfriend, she’s in debt, and lives with a weird British brother and sister pair who read her diary and wear her clothes. The only thing keeping Annie afloat is her best friend Lillian (played by Saturday Night Live co-star Maya Rudolf) who informs Annie that she’s getting married, and that Annie is to be her maid-of-honor. Disaster ensues, as Annie’s own life, which is already falling apart, unravels even further before the monster that is wedding planning.
There’s nothing particularly unpredictable about Bridesmaids but it’s written with a great deal of originality and intelligence. Nothing about the film is precious and there are no sickly saccharine moments. The script is honest and crude and it isn’t hard to imagine that audiences would have been left cringing had it been put in lesser hands. The chemistry between Wiig and Rudoph is perfect and familiar (for all you SNL buffs), and though the other characters can be somewhat prototypical (the Bitch Who Has It All, the Suffering Mom, the Annoying Sweet Young Thing, the Insane Fat Chick), they all have quirks that haven’t been mirrored anywhere else. The film isn’t a non-stop roller-coaster ride of hilarity (and it runs a little long at just over two hours), but there are some genuine laugh-out-loud moments worth savoring here, from Wiig’s subtle facial expressions, to over-the-top gross-out humor involving a quintuple case of food poisoning and a toilet meant for only one person. The romance between Annie and an Irish cop (the lovely Chris O’Dowd) is also approached well—short, sweet and not at all overdone.
This is not a Jennifer Aniston comedy, with canned laughter and First World problems that nobody wants to hear about. This is simply raw, crude and random humor.