Bridesmaids

We wanted to see a chick flick.  We wanted a romantic comedy set in Tuscany, or maybe Niagara Falls.  So we went to the mall, where our choices were Super Eight, Green Lantern, Pirates of the Caribbean, Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer, X-Men, Kung Fu Panda, Hangover 2, or Bridesmaids.  

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids it was, and we loved it.  It's a grungy Saturday Night Live-style Pride and Prejudice, crossed with You've Got Mail, Sex and the City, and Bridget Jones. If you have two X chromosomes, and you love Jane Austen, you must see Bridesmaids.  My guess is that the there are no ACTUAL allusions to Austen, but I have become an Austen nut since V. S. Naipaul trashed her.  The banter is worthy of Austen.  Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo have written a hilarious and sweet contemporary satire of the craziness of weddings, women's friendships, and dysfunctional romances with men. 


Kristen Wiig, an SNL comedian who played Jill in Knocked-Up (which I didn't see), stars as Annie, a down-and-out baker whose cake shop in Milwaukee just closed.  Annie's British roommates, obnoxious Gil, and and his overweight unemployed sister, Brynn (there go my fantasies of British thinness and perfection), take advantage of her financially, insisting that she pay half. 

Worst, Annie keeps having sex with her attractive ex-boyfriend, Ted (Jon Hamm of Mad Men), who doesn't care about her and tells her in the morning (if he lets her stay that long), "I don't know how to say this but I really want you to go."


The best thing in Annie's life is her friendship with Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph, another SNL comedian.  Then Lillian breaks the news.  She's getting married.

Annie is happy for her, but confused.  As maid of honor she plans showers and bridesmaid dress fittings.  Everything goes awry when she takes Lillian and bridesmaids to a Brazilian restaurant, where they get food poisoning--and there is a gross-out scene, to keep the men awake, as my husband says, and to appeal to the very young, as I say.


One of the bridesmaids, Helen (Rose Byrne), a perfect corporate wife, competes with Annie for Lillian's friendship. And may I say I don't think she's as funny as the other bridesmaids?  The others are all so quirky, but she is stiff.  We want to hate Helen, and we do hate Helen for awhile. I guess that's the point of her stiffness.

Annie meets a nice Irish cop (Chris O'Dowd), but she can't take him seriously because he LIKES her.  Yes, I know, but isn't this the way it goes sometimes?  He encourages her to return to baking. 


She alienates everyone but finally learns about friendship and turning her life around.


This is a comedy classic for the 2000s.  At least I think so.  Of course I'd have to see it again to make sure.


Six stars out of five!