Bridesmaids

Hurrah to Bridesmaids, not a complete cracker of a film, but decent enough and certainly the cure to The Hangover Part II. The set up is simple: Annie (Kristen Wiig) is asked to be maid of honour for her friend Lillian, but a combination of little money and interfering bridesmaids leads to frayed tempers and some very bad behaviour indeed. In effect this is basically a tale of friendships made, lost and made up again. Nothing new there, but director Paul Feig has a solid background in US TV comedy and copes with ease getting the best from the numerous set ups, though he is somewhat hamstrung by the screenplay at times. Wiig takes lead duties here and is the star of the show, stepping up into the spotlight with ease and showing just how much she was wasted by Pegg, Frost and Mottola in Paul. Not only is her comic timing great, but her gift for physical comedy is well utilised in a number of hilarious scenes. In fact, these four scenes (Airplane, Car, Bridal Shower and an hilarious argument with a precocious teenager) are so great that if you remove them the rest of the film is only average at best. Other acting nods go to Melissa McCarthy as a bonkers future sister in law and Chris O'Dowd follows up his good work in Gulliver's Travels, doing a nice job as a cop who is clearly the man for Annie, though, at times, his accent appears to be a confusing mix of English, Irish and American. It isn't all gravy though and being a ensemble production means that numerous characters just seem to disappear without a trace at times (Jon Hamm appears as a sleaze ball, but seems completely lost as to what film he's in). As for the now infamous bridesmaids dress fitting scene, this appears to have wandered in from a Farrelly Brothers film and sticks out like a sore thumb, seemingly included just as an entry in the gross out comedy hall of fame / shame. So overall, not quite a bridesmaid, nor a bride, but a comedy with more laugh out loud moments than most of late and perfect friday night viewing.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict

Not many original ideas, but there’s enough decent gags and Wiig’s performance holds it all together. Rating: 7/10.