Bridesmaids

Movie: Bridesmaids

Genre: comedy

Synopsis: This is kind of a women’s version of Road Trip. Annie (Kristen Wiig) and Lillian (Maya Rudolph) have been best friends their entire lives.  Annie is in a bit of a slump after her bakery went under.  Lillian is newly engaged and asks Lillian to be her maid of honor.  The problems starts when Annie meets Lillies new friend, Helen (Rose Byrne).  Annie and Helen take an immediate dislike to each other and become obsessed with out-doing the each other.  Annie’s life continues to spiral down.  The effortless success of Helen in everything she does just makes things worse for Annie.  Things come to a head with a major meltdown by Annie.  The question is whether or not she will be able to climb out of her black hole of depression and make up with Lillian.

My two cents:  I loved this movie.  Kristen Wiig may just be my new comedic actress (well, number two – after Jennifer Anniston).  She and Maya Rudolph make a great team.  Rose Byrne was perfect as the beautiful sweet friend who is stabbing you in the back while flashing that charming smile.  Melissa McCarthy played the groom’s sister, a bride’s maid only because of her brother.  Melissa absolutely stole every scene she was in.  She needs to get into some more movies.  She has come a long way since Sookie St. James on Gilmore Girls.

I also liked the subplot of Annie’s budding romance with a cop.  It was really sweet to see her trying to break out of her habit of dating complete asses.  I found that the depths of the depression Annie sank into made me a little uncomfortable.  Although this is most assuredly a comedy, there are some serious issues and some serious lessons to be learned.

One sad note . . . Jill Clayburgh played Annie’s mother.  It was the last movie she made before she died.  It was sad to watch her, knowing it was her last performance.

I was one of only two men in the theatre with about 30 women.  It is too bad if men are staying away from this movie because it is being labeled a “chick flick”, they are missing a great comedy.

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