"Bridesmaids"
I got Rosemary the "Bridesmaids" movie on video this week. I didn't see it in theaters, so this was my first time.
"Bridesmaids" was pretty good. Though all the press made me think I was getting something far messier and raunchier than what it was. If folks were calling this a "Lady Hangover," they mean "Lady" as a label for inherently weaker and smoother.
I also think the movie missed a great opportunity to be a slice-of-life comedy that depicts Annie (Kristen Wiig) as a working-poor girl, down on her luck in the recession, coming to terms with her own class resentment at the rich Helen. And Lillian also figures out how she has changed, too. Could have been an awesome character study on how friends grow up and apart.
Otherwise there's a lot of seen-it-all movie storytelling, the really old-hat ethnic food poisoning stuff.
And leave the Wilson Phillips at the door; just one, please, just one female-centered comedy without a hokey song? Just one?
Guess I wanted a little more "Cedar Rapids" in this one.
ETA: Don't get me wrong, all of that character stuff is there in the movie, just displayed in that "two seconds of a shot at the start of the movie" kind of take-for-granted establishment that cinema storytelling does. I just wanted more of it. It's the challenge of making a comedy movie that sits between the heartfelt and the ridiculous.
Stuffing the ethnic-food food poisoning bit into a act of defiling the pristine bridal shop was very good. But just one time, I want the food poisoning to be about non-ethnic food!
I still maintain that the for-no-good-reason Irish state trooper was a superfluous character they threw in because the female protagonist still needed a man. Sure, one she treats like crap, does really dumb things for, and who seems to like her for no reason, but still ... cute tall guy with an Irish accent still beats Manic Pixie Dream Girl in guy-centered movies.
"Bridesmaids" was pretty good. Though all the press made me think I was getting something far messier and raunchier than what it was. If folks were calling this a "Lady Hangover," they mean "Lady" as a label for inherently weaker and smoother.
I also think the movie missed a great opportunity to be a slice-of-life comedy that depicts Annie (Kristen Wiig) as a working-poor girl, down on her luck in the recession, coming to terms with her own class resentment at the rich Helen. And Lillian also figures out how she has changed, too. Could have been an awesome character study on how friends grow up and apart.
Otherwise there's a lot of seen-it-all movie storytelling, the really old-hat ethnic food poisoning stuff.
And leave the Wilson Phillips at the door; just one, please, just one female-centered comedy without a hokey song? Just one?
Guess I wanted a little more "Cedar Rapids" in this one.
ETA: Don't get me wrong, all of that character stuff is there in the movie, just displayed in that "two seconds of a shot at the start of the movie" kind of take-for-granted establishment that cinema storytelling does. I just wanted more of it. It's the challenge of making a comedy movie that sits between the heartfelt and the ridiculous.
Stuffing the ethnic-food food poisoning bit into a act of defiling the pristine bridal shop was very good. But just one time, I want the food poisoning to be about non-ethnic food!
I still maintain that the for-no-good-reason Irish state trooper was a superfluous character they threw in because the female protagonist still needed a man. Sure, one she treats like crap, does really dumb things for, and who seems to like her for no reason, but still ... cute tall guy with an Irish accent still beats Manic Pixie Dream Girl in guy-centered movies.