BIG SCREEN: Bridesmaids Revieux (Rated R)

I’ve heard a lot of people describe Bridesmaids as The Hangover for women. This did not sound encouraging to me. Seriously. There’s certainly a time and place for raunchy dude flicks, but do women still feel like they have to act like men to transcend the stereotypical chick flick and be riotously funny? Ugh, Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live) is sort of an over-the-top comedian, anyway – so, I had visions of extreme desperation and hammy performances dancing obnoxiously in my head. But, I’m pleased to say, this was not the case.

Wiig plays Annie, a down-on-her-luck 30-something who’s lost her business, boyfriend, and entire life savings all in one fell swoop, and is now eking out a pretty pathetic existence. Her job stinks, her car’s a junker, and her “friend with benefits” (Jon Hamm) is a serious jerk. But her relationship with her childhood best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), is a ray of sunlight and it brings out the best in her. When Lillian gets engaged and asks Annie to be her maid of honor, however, Annie’s whole rickety house of cards pretty much gets blown to smithereens, thanks to her own insecurities and a really competitive/overly perfect fellow bridesmaid. And we watch her total deconstruction play out with cringe-worthy, but hilarious results.

Quite contrary to my expectations, Wiig and Rudolph (and a great supporting cast) actually turn in some truly authentic and funny performances. And even if I didn’t tell you that Wiig wrote this movie with a girlfriend, you’d still be able to tell it was written by women. Why? What makes it NOT The Hangover for women? Heart and soul (we women like a little substance, right?). Not enough to make it super sappy and ruin the comedic aspects, but enough to give it some weight and to balance out the bawdy humor and crazy sight-gags. And there’s plenty of both, don’t worry.

As I watched, I imagined that most women will find it amusing, but I wondered how many will actually identify with Annie. While many women married their college sweethearts or dutifully worked their way up the corporate ladder, there were many of us—er—many women out there, I'm told, who made terrible choices and maybe partied a bit too much and told each other lewd jokes and dated the wrong people for the wrong reasons. We--I mean, they give themselves away by laughing the loudest in the theater. Busted!

Although, yes, dudes directed and produced it – Bridesmaids is a movie written by women, about women, with an uncensored sense of humor. Hallelujah! How refreshing! Perfect for a girls’ night out!

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