Review: Bridesmaids

Everyone I'd spoken to about this film said one of two things: 1. "It's like a female version of The Hangover" and 2. "It's shit." Needless to say, on entering the cinema I was feeling ever so slightly sceptical.

The plot essentially follows an unlucky girl-next-door type called Annie (Kristen Wiig), who's bakery caved, so-called boyfriend only calls her periodically for sex, two overweight British roommates are weirdos and - to top it all - her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) just got engaged. So ensues all the stress of planning a wedding that isn't hers, plus the insecurity of Lillian's evidently marrying into money, plus the threat of Helen Harris (Rose Byrne), Lillian's new BFF, apparently. So Annie is constantly fighting with Helen for Lillian's affection, warily approaching a budding new romance with a police officer (Chris O'Dowd) and trying not to buckle under the chaos of her rapidly spiralling life. Comedy ensues.

So when people say it's like a female version of The Hangover, I can see what they're saying. It's a realistic situation taken to exaggerated levels, the characters are largely caricatures of actual people and some of the comedy is - frankly - icky. That said, I'd say the biggest difference between The Hangover and Bridemaids is that the latter focuses more on the story than the comedy, it has more heart and so is more heartwarming. The way Kristen Wiig plays Annie is very easy to relate to, as is the story of feeling a friendship threatened by a newcomer; Maya Rudolph gives a subtly sweet performance as Lillian and the Irish Chris O'Dowd, whilst failing totally to keep up an American accent, is extremely sweet and endearing as copper Nathan Rhodes. It was also a genuinely funny film, with a few cracking one-liners and hilarious slapstick.

But not all of the comedy was to my taste, let's say. The food-poisoning sequence was, to be perfectly honest, hard to watch, as was the scene towards the end when Annie finally cracks at Lillian's bridal shower. Those two parts were overly-cringey, made for uncomfortable viewing and - mainly - drifted away from the honesty and realism that made the rest of the film so endearing. Another problem I had was with the character of Megan, who had been shoved into the traditional Fat Weird One role made an art form by Zach Galifianakis. There could have been a lot more done with Megan, but the characterisation was apparently less important than the fart gags in her case. But these flaws didn't inhibit my overall enjoyment of the film.

Basic summary: a few moments of pure, humourless cringe, but generally speaking a funny, sweet and surprisingly honest portrayal of women in general.

Rating: * * * (good)