Bridesmaids

So, the set up. Kristen Wiig is Annie, whose life is falling apart. Until recently, she had her own bakery, a nice (she thinks) boyfriend and looks set. The bakery gets hit by the recession, her boyfriend leaves her, and she's left working in a jewellery store selling engagement rings while labouring under the impression that love cannot ever last.

Her best friend friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) however, announces that she is getting married, and that she wants Annie to be the Maid of Honour, which pretty much leaves arranging stuff like the hen night and the bridal shower to her. At which point she's introduced to Helen, a relative of the husband to be, apparently wealthy and perfect, and seemingly Lillian's would-be new best friend. And so a neurotic game of one-up-manship ensues.

Now, on the face of it, this is The Hangover, With Ladies. And this is certainly something which I think people who haven't seen either film say, in mutual condemnation of both films. However, The Hangover was a lot better than the sum of its parts, and so is this. Because what's important about The Hangover is that it's about how men are around other men, and this is a film about women's relationships with each other. One thing I'd point out is, while there are significant male characters in the film, the husband to be is not one of them; I don't think he gets a line, and if he does, it's hardly significant.

What this film is about, and where its heart is, is how you deal with the fact that as you get older, your life will go in quite different directions than your oldest friends, and how you can adapt to that. The core relationship in this film is Annie and Lillian, not Lillian and Whatever-His-Name-Was-It-Matters-Not.

If the film has a weakness, and you might not think that it is, is that the tone is all over the place. There's scenes between Annie and Lillian which are honest and truthful, and up there with the likes of films like The Kids Are Alright. And then ten minutes later, we're in the midst of a massively broad and crude extended vomit and diarrhea gag. And I guess it's really up to the audience whether they feel that makes the film an incoherent mess, or whether it's a case of a film with a pretty broad palette of where it'll go for its laughs. Myself, I enjoyed being caught off guard, as it wasn't entirely clear at any time which direction it would go next.