Bridesmaids- P.P.M.R (Positively Positive Movie Review)

Bridesmaids

This is NOT your normal chick flick! This is a laugh-from-beginning-to-end, pee-in-your-pants-laughing, bag of fun but what else would you expect with Judd Apatow as producer, Kristin Wiig as co-writer and co-producer and an ensemble of actresses who usually play the crazy side-kicks? This is a recipe for hilarity that did not disappoint! You get 2 hours and 5 minutes of laughter, with a side of warm fuzzy feelings, poignancy and deeper meanings about getting up when life shoves you in the dirt. Also, this is not just a movie for women. Yes, women will relate but, to my male readers: you will laugh until you are doubled over!

The cast is packed full of talent. The leading ladies are usually the show stealers and I love it! Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph, usually known from Saturday Night Live and as the crazy side-kicks, play best friends Annie and Lil. Lil (Rudolph) is proposed to and asks her life-long friend Annie (Wiig) to be her Maid of Honor. Simple right? Any woman who has been in a wedding now shouts, "NO!" Annie soon finds being the Maid of Honor is a difficult job, especially when one bridesmaid is trying to steal her thunder, Lil's new friend and bridesmaid Helen, played by Rose Byrne. You will love to hate Byrne as she plays the Little Miss Perfect that every normal girl despises! Annie's life has already been spiraling into rock bottom ,this wedding, and Helen, just gives her the final push.

Among the other talent is another personal favorite of mine, Melissa McCarthy as Megan. You might recognize her from "Mike and Molly" but she will forever be Sookie from "Gilmore Girls" to me. However, she is far from sweet, down to earth Sookie in this movie. She is over-the-top, borderline manly and hysterical Megan! In a movie full of scene stealers she manages to grab her fair share. The final two bridesmaids are played by Ellie Kemper from "The Office" as Becca and Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita, an actress previously unknown to me but she will now be forever stuck in my memory. Each girl  portrays a typical staple of every wedding. You have your perfect bridesmaids, your innocent ones, your crazy ones and the ones you wonder how they EVER even got invited to the wedding. The ladies of this movie make it amazing and, as Jen Yamato from movieline said, they prove that, "Chick Flicks don't have to suck!"

As usual, there are of course a few men in this movie. The one worth mentioning is not Jon Hamm as some ladies may assume. Chris O'Dowd plays the adorably awkward man to root for alongside Hamm who also catches Annie's eye. Let's face it, it's a romantic comedy and no matter how much you emphasize the comedy you will still know who will end up being together. Maybe someday I will find a way to write an unpredictable love story but I have yet to find one. O'Dowd plays the police officer who pulls Annie over on one of her many bad days and falls for this mess of a woman. However, Annie must overcome her demons and insecurities before they can have their happily ever after. That said, they make it interesting along the way and even though you know (or I knew) that they will end up together, you love it anyway. O'Dowd is adorable and loveable and you root for him throughout the movie. Don't worry, it's not boring, predictable crap as usual for this film, you even to get see Wiig perform almost every illegal act a driver can commit!

This gets us to the plot. Is it original? Actually yes, many parts are original. Is it hilarious? Oh yeah! However, the great thing about this film is it doesn't shove meaning down your throat or give you a long line of laughs with no plot, it blends the two together so that you are laughing and then you have the "aww" and "oh wow" moments. Want an example? Annie's life finally hits rock bottom and she feels she has no friends when Megan (McCarthy) comes over and knocks some sense into her...or should I say bites some sense into her! Megan tires of Annie's complaints about life and, instead of calmly telling her it will all get better, she tosses tiny Annie over her shoulder and literally bites her in the ass while saying "I'm life, biting you in the ass!" I was laughing so hard that tears were about to run down my face but this also posed a wonderful message, yes life is going to kick you to the curb but you have to get up and keep going if you ever want it to get better. You might never expect the character of Megan to be the one to kick Annie back to life but I knew from the beginning she had more purpose than shock-and-awe laughter. This moment is imprinted in my brain not only because of the humor but because what Megan says can be true for anyone: you have to get up when life knocks you down, or bites you in the ass in this case.

So does this "chick flick" have hideous bridesmaids dresses and the common female turmoil that is associated with weddings? Of course, but just wait for the scenes where they look for those dresses and you'll know this is not your average chick flick. Does it end happily? Of course! We all know that if you don't end a movie like this happily people will be pissed (cough: My Best Friend's Wedding). The point is that this movie is is not the norm and you figure that out after just a few laughs.

It was great to see Maya Rudolph and Kristin Wiig in staring roles that were suitable for their comedic talent and even better to see a female dominated cast that wasn't surging with unneeded hormones and tons of sappy moments. They have their emotional moments and then they get on with the funny! Don't worry, I didn't even dip into all the hilarious moments.  I didn't even share a small percentage of the greatness that is "Bridesmaids!"Go see this movie, you won't be disappointed! Oh and just a small additive, be prepared to end it Wilson Phillips style! If you have no idea what this means then you are probably too young for the R rating. I loved this movie! I plan on buying it when it comes out and yes, I will go see it again with others!

Movie Rating- No Spoonfuls- No sugar needed to sweeten this review.