By Sarah Sluis
Another female-led movie about weddings? Oh dear. Though 27 Dresses had some redeeming moments, the horrible, ridiculous cat fighting that was Bride Wars (at least the trailer, I certainly wasn't going to see the movie after such an offensive preview) was enough to make me call it quits on the wedding genre. But Bridesmaids may be different.
Yesterday, the trailer for Bridesmaids hit the Internet. To sum up: This is a Judd Apatow-produced movie, and it shows. Kristen Wiig stars as a single gal whose best friend is getting married, giving her all the chores of a maid of honor. From the trailer, it seems like she's less unhappy about being single, and more unhappy about the fact that other people seem distressed about her relationship status (and the fact that they keep on mistaking the men standing next to her, however incompatible, as her beaux).
Unlike the vindictive hair dying and open fighting that was Bride Wars, Bridesmaids offers a more realistic take on how women bring each other down: Take the undermining comment about a fellow bridesmaid's outfit at a fancy party: "Did you come from work?" This is the kind of thing that "Sex and the City" was known for before it jumped the shark with SATC 2. The series succeeded because of its lightly caricatured, but hilarious, versions of people we already know (like snobby underminers).
Wigg kills it in Paul (trailer), a sci-fi comedy coming out in March, and I have similar faith in her in Bridesmaids. Wiig has more of a regular girl feel to her, much like fellow "SNL" alum Tina Fey. Wiig's co-stars include Maya Rudolph (also "SNL"), Ellie Kemper (the new secretary on "The Office"), Rose Byrne ("Damages") and Melissa McCarthy (starring in the "plus size" sitcom "Mike & Molly"). Notice something? None of these women have made careers as leading ladies, but in comedy and television, some in roles that prefer more down-to-earth looks.
I'm not expecting something on the level of The Hangover, and there were some stupid moments (e.g. a fart joke) that made it into the trailer. However, female buddy comedies are rare beasts, even as male-driven ones in the style of Judd Apatow have proliferated. As the spate of bad romantic comedies shows, Hollywood wants to create films that appeal to women, but it doesn't seem to know how. Bridesmaids has come up with one solution: Take the romance out of the comedy.
I think Bridesmaids got a lot of potential, and I am glad this project is finally done, because looking for a comedy that centers around the females is hard to find. The last decent one I watched was Baby Mama, and that's already a couple year back. It may not going to be spectacular, but it's a nice alternative to most male-centered comedy today.
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