By about the 10 minute mark, this film reveals itself to be the cinematic monster-baby of Sex in the City and Californication; a compromise-candidate for young couples who wouldn’t have otherwise been able to agree on what to see. Unfortunately, like all bastards, Bridesmaids inevitably suffers from the internal torpor of not having a home to call its own.
The latest product of the Judd Apatow comedy machine, Bridesmaids is the first of his films to not only focus around women, but to be written by two of them (star Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumulo) as well. This offers the potential for something heretofore unseen in an Apatow film – a three dimensional portrayal of women. That lofty goal is never realized however, and we are instead provided the same formulaic swath of female film clichés that have been utilized ad nauseam: wealthy women are spiteful and subversively catty, fat women are disgusting (both physically and in terms of their sexual appetites) though funny because of that disgustingness, virgins and undersexed women are more ignorant and naïve than their oversexed compatriots, and marriage is the ultimate goal of all women everywhere. This, combined with the depiction of men (who are always swine within Apatow films) makes for a particularly underdeveloped and unsympathetic character-set.
The movie tells the story of Annie (Wiig), a down-on-her luck thirtysomething who’s best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) gets engaged and asks her to serve as Maid of Honor at her wedding – and the hilarity that ensues thereafter. The narrative itself moves jerkily from scene to scene, due in large part to the seeming identity-crisis the film has throughout. Not certain whether it wants to be a traditional ‘Rom Com’ or an R-rated (read ‘guy’) comedy but with women, both angles are attempted but then deserted, with the obvious result that neither has any degree of success. My favorite example of this begin-it-and-then-abandon-it attitude is the character of Annie’s love interest, Officer Nathan Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd), a policeman with a heart of gold. O’Dowd is an Irish actor and makes no attempt to mask his accent in the film, though apart from two in-passing references (one of them being Jon Hamm’s salient observation “you talk funny”) nothing is made to develop the character’s back-story or to explain how an Irishman became an American citizen and then a police officer in Wisconsin.
That’s not to say that the movie’s unfunny. There’s jokes, and though they’re a bit crass (again the usual Apatow fare of sex, semen, and at one point in time Annie calls a young girl a “cunt”, which I guess is the joke) they’re still funny and will garner laughs. The timing (particularly Wiig’s, who might be the best actress in film comedy at present) is well-done, with Jon Hamm’s portrayal of today’s modern douchebag particularly noteworthy.
Had they not listed the writers’ names in the credits, I would have guessed that this film was the collaborative efforts of a 15 year old boy, who’s only experience with women was via the O.C. (or whatever adolescent melodramatic has currently hooked the youth of today), and a middle-aged cat lady who’s greatest fear is dying alone. There’s no denying such a pairing would be amusing – just not to the tune of £6.50…
