Date Posted: June 24, 2011
Print Edition: June 24, 2011
By Amy Van Veen (The Cascade) – Email
From director Paul Feig, who has been involved in male-centered classics the likes of Knocked Up and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, comes a raunchy comedy women can enjoy.
It seems paradoxical to say that raunch can be enjoyed by the female variety because most humour of that kind is in the realm of what men seem to find funny. No matter how hard I try, I cannot understand how male genitalia can get so many laughs.
With Kristen Wiig as the co-writer and star, however, there is bound to be a few more laughs than grimaces for the targeted lady demographic. In the midst of vomiting, street defecation, and chocolate fountain freak-outs, the term “lady” still applies, because though she has very little dignity, the main character Annie has her own coming of age story, albeit with a few more laughs than Jane Eyre’s.
In the last couple of decades, female comedians have become something to treasure instead of tolerate thanks to Lorne Michael’s Saturday Night Live. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have certainly found success on their own, but even their attempt at humor in Baby Mama came off as pitifully easy humor in an unrealistic situation. Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig, on the other hand, find a little more success.
Bridesmaids appeals to every woman who has ever had to don a hideous dress that’s only purpose is to make the bride look even more beautiful. Sure it can be an honour, but it can also be a headache, as women who normally would never socialize are forced to be friends for the sake of the one in white. Every member of a bridal party has a breaking point.
Thanks to Kristen Wiig, this breaking point is hilariously displayed.
Maya Rudolph plays her best friend and the bride-to-be who excitedly wants her childhood friend Annie, played by Kristen Wiig, to be her maid of honour (MOH). Annie, unfortunately, is hardly in a stable place for someone in their thirties. She has to deal with her quasi-boyfriend and biggest critic played by Jon Hamm, her failed business, Cake Lady, which was ruined by an ex-boyfriend, and a trophy wife named Helen breathing down her neck and wanting to impeach her, all so she can be the MOH. On top of all that, she has the creepiest Australian brother and sister roommates that have ever been on film and a less than fulfilling job selling jewelry she doesn’t believe in to people she hates.
It could be rags to riches, with a handsome stranger sweeping her off her feet, but the realism would be lost. What she gets instead is a complicated mess of emotions with a really nice yet somewhat nerdy police officer and the confrontation of a lifetime when Helen steals her best friend and her Parisian shower idea.
It’s hard to pick a favorite moment in this film because every moment is almost too relatable. What would you do if you were trying on a designer wedding dress and you had food poisoning? What would you do if you were scared of flying and your nemesis gave you pills and alcohol only to have you hallucinate and be escorted off the plane by an air marshall? What would you do if you had the opportunity to steal nine puppies?
You would do as Annie did, end the pity party and live the mess that is your life because it is, in fact, your life. You only get one, and even if it’s crappy, it’s worth it.
