Classic Review: Bridesmaids (2011)

Bridesmaids came out of nowhere, completely unexpected, to become a huge success at the box office. Not only that, but also a huge success story for the cast and its creators. Written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, the film seemed clearly inspired by the success of The Hangover, turning a marriage into comedy gold. But while The Hangover was purely comedic, this film had a more defined story and character arc, making it more interesting on the long run.

Bridesmaids follows Annie (Wiig), a woman right at a life crisis. After losing her cake shop, sharing her house with two inconvenient roommates and having an awful somewhat relationship with Ted (Jon Hamm) who only wants sex and treats her like trash, she is at the point of losing it. To make matters worse, her best friend Lillian (Rudolph) gets engaged and is at the happiest moment of her life. Being the maid of honor, Annie is responsible to help planning everything for the big day, but she is not alone: Lilian enlists other friends, Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Becca (Ellie Kemper), Megan (Melissa McCarthy) and Annie’s nemesis, Helen (Byrne). Annie and Helen don’t get along from the start, and they start an aggressive competition to see who will win the title of best Lilian’s best friend. Annie also starts seeing an officer called Rhodes (Chris O’Dowd) who totally disarms her with his interest in her.

Bridesmaids is a raunchy comedy that certainly doesn’t hold back, including the most infamous moment of them all where a visit to a bridal shop after lunch at a Brazilian BBQ went terribly wrong. There are two ways of looking at that scene: it is offensive, yes, and very disgusting. But it also features the kind of humor associated with men so in a way, it is quite refreshing to see that the creators were not scared of pushing the boundaries of what would be considered “proper”, because in the end, that definition should not even exist. That moment may not be a personal favorite, but it did elicit some laughter (I love love love the Rudolph moment out on the street). And let me just say that I’m Brazilian, BTW, our BBQ is insanely good, and I can assure you that reaction is not normal. At all.

There is something, though, that makes Bridesmaids stand above the likes of The Hangover and Wedding Crashers: it does have a more interesting story and character arc. Annie is at a low point in her life, insecure and fragile, not knowing what she will do from now on, and she is trying to hold on to her friend while she witnesses her at the happiest time of her life. The contrast unbalances her, but it also makes her stronger in time. And even though the film does humor by pitting women against each other and with fat jokes, at least it tries to turn things around while the story progresses, bringing these women closer to each other, talking about strong female relationships and showing us that the ugly duckling is totally in control of her life and her choices and is, in the end, the most balanced and grounded person in the room.

What makes Bridesmaids shine, besides the hilarity of the situations, it the amazing work delivered by the 6 actresses. Feig knows how to bring the best out of his performers, and it is incredibly satisfying seeing Wiig, McCarthy, Rudolph, Kemper, Byrne and McLendon-Covey working together, each of them bringing their own comedic energies to the table and balancing their acts with each other. McCarthy is totally a scene stealer (as is Jon Hamm with his little special appearance), and Wiig is fantastic in sharing Annie’s character arc with us. We always understand her emotions and conflicts. But the real standout is Byrne, an actress no one really expected to have such powerful comedic chops, but she always delivers it brilliantly. And what makes her so original is that she does the most outrageous things while making it seem like she is doing Shakespeare. It’s not as insanely good as her Spy character, but it’s still highly enjoyable.

Bridesmaids also leaves a bit of room to be a romantic comedy, and Wiig and O’Dowd’s chemistry works perfectly. Their characters relationship feels warm and fun, and it is the perfect balance for the comedic side.

In the end, Bridesmaids has a lot of laugh out loud moments, and it is still highly enjoyable today.

still courtesy of Universal Pictures

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