Bridesmaids (2011)

BACK IN JULY, my wife and I celebrated 14 years of marriage with a week-long getaway (Dash and Jack-Jack enjoyed the spoils of spending the week with my folks).

In addition to the fine dining, gorgeous scenery, soothing atmosphere, and rediscovering each other, we did something we hadn’t done since April’s Win Win: We saw a movie in a theater without the kids.

Plot:
Down-on-her-luck Annie (Kristen Wiig) is asked by childhood friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) to be maid of honor at Lillian’s wedding. But Annie’s competition with wealthy and beautiful bridesmaid Helen (Rose Byrne) threatens to destroy the engagement party, the bridal shower, the wedding, and even Annie and Lillian’s friendship.

Critique:

The comedy in Bridesmaids is an effective mix of smart and broad humor, with conversations between the women (especially Annie and Helen) reaching Office-like levels of awkward, cringe-worthy moments.

For the first half of Bridesmaids, Wiig (who co-wrote the script) largely plays the straight role to the punchlines and sight gags happening around her. That thankfully changes halfway through the film, when Wiig gets to show off the comedic chops that made her a star on Saturday Night Live – especially the scene where the bridesmaids fly to Vegas and Annie gets loopy on pills and booze during the flight.

The stellar supporting cast includes The Office’s Ellie Kemper as a sexually repressed newlywed, Wendi McLendon-Covey as a sex-craving wife and mother, Mad Men’s Jon Hamm as Annie’s ongoing, regrettable hook-up, and Rose Byrne as Annie’s passive-aggressive nemesis Helen, a trophy wife who’s trying to wrest the title of Lillian’s BFF away from Annie. And Chris O’Dowd, as a cop who falls for Annie, is both funny and charming, eliciting quite a few “awwww” moments from my wife.

But the hands-down scene-stealer in Bridesmaids is Mike and Molly’s Melissa McCarthy as the profane, ambitious, inappropriate bridesmaid Megan. McCarthy’s delivery of lines such as “You feel that heat? It’s coming from my undercarriage” are worth the ticket price alone.

I hope I’ve made a good case to male readers to see this very funny comedy. But lest the women think it’s just a riotous raunchfest, I want my wife to explain how well Wiig and co-writer Annie Mumolo capture the female dynamic:

“This movie nails what it’s like for a woman when she feels like she’s competing with someone over a friend – especially some newcomer who thinks they know your lifelong friend better than you do.”

A few nits: Bridesmaids clocks in at over two hours, about 20 minutes longer than the sweet-spot running time for any comedy. Most of that extended time can be credited to several false finishes; each time you think you’ve seen the final confrontation or resolution, another one follows it. Also, there’s an ongoing theme surrounding Annie’s out-of-business bakery that’s never resolved. And a cheesy surprise cameo at the end has producer Judd Apatow’s fingerprints all over it.

Bridesmaids really is the best of both worlds: It’s a no-holds-barred, proudly R-rated comedy for the guys, and a well-written, terrifically acted female ensemble piece for the girls. It’s available on DVD, Blu-ray, and VOD starting today; make a point to see it.

Rating:

Is it suitable for your kids?

Bridesmaids is rated R for “some strong sexuality, and language throughout.” There are several scenes of graphic, aggressive (yet nudity-free) sex; lots of explicit language and frank dialogue about sexual acts and bodily functions; and a brief scene of Wiig topless, with her hands over her breasts.

Will your FilmMother want to watch it?

Absolutely. In addition to laugh-out-loud dialogue and antics, Bridesmaids effectively portrays the relationships between women in all levels of friendship, from childhood best friends to casual acquaintances to oil-and-water mismatches. As long as your FilmMother can laugh at some scatological, sex-based, foul-mouthed humor, she’ll love Bridesmaids.

Say cheese! Or is it cake...? Chocolate...?

Bridesmaids
* Director: Paul Feig
* Screenwriters: Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
* Stars: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Chris O'Dowd, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ellie Kemper, Jon Hamm, Jill Clayburgh, Kali Hawk
* MPAA Rating: R


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The Hangover (2009)

IT WAS HARD – really hard – to ignore the success of The Hangover.

A comedy with a simple premise, and no marquee stars, blows up through strong word of mouth and good reviews to become the highest grossing R-rated film in history ($270 million as of this writing).

So, much like Let The Right One In, I had to blot out everything I saw or heard that raved about The Hangover so I could objectively review it myself.

Plot:
• The big wedding day is near for Doug (Justin Bartha), but first he’s being taken to Las Vegas for his bachelor party by his groomsmen: party guy Phil (Bradley Cooper), henpecked boyfriend Stu (The Office’s Ed Helms), and odd, future brother-in-law Alan (Zach Galifianakis).
• They check in to Caesar’s, then sneak to the rooftop for an amazing view of Sin City and a toast to the upcoming evening. Alan breaks out a bottle of Jagermeister…which, as those of you who have partaken can attest, is a sign that the evening is not going to end well.
• The rooftop scene fades, and we next find Phil, Stu, and Alan in their hotel room the following morning – with a chicken, a tiger, and a baby as guests. Also, Doug is nowhere to be found. Unfortunately, the groomsmen have no recollection of the prior evening, so they spend the remainder of the film backtracking their steps – and being confronted by all sorts of people from the night before, for reasons the guys can’t understand or remember.

Critique:

I’m not going to pontificate about the cinematography, lighting, or mise en scene of The Hangover, since you probably just want to know: Is it as funny as everyone says it is?

In a word, yes. There are loads of hilarious antics, scenarios, and dialogue in the first hour alone – enough to fill three times as many of the so-so “best comedies of the year” we’ve been assaulted with recently. (I’m looking at you, Knocked Up.)

While credit for the comedy starts with the script by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, a huge amount of the success rests squarely with Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis. Each one is perfectly cast in their role, playing an entirely different character from the other two – yet the trio interact amazingly well on screen.

Director Todd Phillips (the overrated Old School) does a great job of balancing the real and the ridiculous to create an ideal blend for an outrageously funny film. Naysayers may claim it’s all too unrealistic, but part of the beauty is that there is a chance, however slim, that the events of The Hangover could actually happen to these guys.

Some nits to pick: I can’t decide whether the appearance of Mike Tyson (as the owner of the aforementioned tiger) is funny or forced. Ken Jeong’s role as a gay Asian mob boss is clichéd, stereotypical, and worst of all, unfunny. And the way the guys finally find Doug (what, you thought they wouldn’t?) is a bit anticlimactic, compared to everything that transpired beforehand.

Like most comedies, the third act tapers a bit because plots need to be resolved, so time for comedy is sacrificed. But never mind: The Hangover is a very funny, unapologetic, un-PC, R-rated comedy starring grownups, about grownups, without a high concept. I haven’t laughed out loud this much since Superbad.

The Hangover is still playing in some theaters. I highly recommend you track it down, or be sure to check it out when it hits home video or On Demand. (And be sure to watch the end credits.)

Awesome post-script: To get The Hangover made with the actors he wanted, director Todd Phillips waived his salary and received part ownership of the film instead. With the movie’s killer box office, you probably don’t need a calculator to figure out it was a wise gamble. From Variety:

Because Phillips insisted on his cast, [he was given] a budget ceiling of $34 million, and the only way he could make that number was to work for scale and use salary and gross to buy his way into being an equity investor…That puts Phillips on track to earn $35 million or more on "The Hangover."

Like I said: awesome.

Rating:

Will your kids want to see it?

Doesn’t matter; they shouldn’t. While The Hangover is hilarious, it’s justifiably rated R. There are tons of F-bombs (amongst many other profanities), plus copious amounts of nudity, drug references, and several scenes of a baby in comedic distress. I’d say high schoolers should be the youngest age group for viewing The Hangover, and even then I’d say only upperclassmen.

Will your FilmMother want to watch it?

I would think The Hangover’s humor would play to both genders, but you’ll have to judge for yourself. Like I said earlier, it’s a pretty good balance of real-life comedy and outrageous antics. Look, it ain’t Hamlet; as long as she goes in looking for laughs and not high art, I think you’ll both like it a lot.

Hello...AAA? You're not gonna believe this.

The Hangover
• Director: Todd Phillips
• Screenwriters: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore
• Stars: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham
• MPAA Rating: R (pervasive language, sexual content including nudity, and some drug material)


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