On the surface, Bridesmaids looks like any other romantic comedy gross-out flick, treating both the female pursuit of a suitable male partner and potty humor in equally regressive measure as the only topics of any comedic worth. It’s even been referred to as a female The Hangover (it’s not), but it’s timing could be seen as a reaction to the spate of “bro-mance” comedies made popular in large part by Judd Apatow. Below the surface, however, Bridesmaids IS just another romantic comedy gross-out flick (Apatow’s still producing), only starring ladies and very funny.
Normally it pains me to say this, but for these two I take exception; SNL cast-members Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph play best 30-something-upper-middle-class friends Annie and Lillian. Their off-screen friendship comes across almost instantly as they casually discuss the more annoying qualities of male genitals over a cup of coffee early in the film. Co-written by Wiig, and directed by television director Paul Feig, whose credits include Freaks and Geeks, Bored to Death and Parks and Rec, to name just a few on an impressive list, Bridesmaids relies both on the natural comedic talent of its cast and their seeming comfort with each other. When the five of these bridesmaids get together, they are just as hilarious sitting at a restaurant talking as they are in the obligatory staged comedic scenarios. Gilmore Girls’ Melissa MacCarthy stands out as the groom’s outspoken and over-sexed sister, and Reno 911’s Wendi McLendon-Covey plays miserable in marriage and motherhood (without being a monster) to a T.
Speaking of obligatory, there’s a romantic interest subplot for Wiig involving a cop who happens to be my favorite Irishman, Chris O’Dowd. And like the rest of the film, their interactions take on an easy and natural rhythm rarely seen these days. This kind of pacing and Feig’s willingness to linger on scenes longer than most work marvelously for the most part, but at 2 hours and change, some of the chuckles should have been chopped. But Wiig and Co. have made an hilarious film. And it’s almost progressive how they did it while sticking to a generally regressive formula.
