Movie Review: BRIDESMAIDS

BRIDESMAIDS

2011
R

Bridesmaids is a 2011 comedy directed by Paul Feig that centers around one woman's struggle to be her best friend's maid of honor. When Annie's (Kristen Wiig) lifelong friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) asks her to be the maid of honor at her wedding, she immediately accepts the offer. When she starts to meet the rest of the bridesmaids at the engagement party, however, Annie starts to realize that the path to Lillian's wedding might be a bit more interesting than she had originally imagined. Rounding out the bridal party are innocent newlywed Becca (Ellie Kemper), bitter mother Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Lillian's soon-to-be sister-in-law Megan (Melissa McCarthy) and Lillian's apparent new "best friend" Helen (Rose Byrne), who believes she should have been chosen as the maid of honor. The tension between Annie and Helen begins almost immediately and permeates throughout all of Annie's duties as the maid of honor. To add to the problems, Annie's personal life starts to spiral out of control. Her bakery went out of business, forcing her boyfriend to leave her. She offers herself physically to a man who doesn't reciprocate her deeper feelings. All of her problems make it all the more difficult for her to accept that Lillian is moving onto the next chapter of her life and just might be leaving her behind.

At first glance, I didn't think that Bridesmaids was going to be my type of movie. With a female-dominated cast that delves into much of the women's side of the wedding process, I wasn't quite sure whether there would be anything to which I could relate. However, when the film started to garner rave reviews from critics, I figured I'd give it a shot when I had the opportunity. That chance came today, and I can say that I was delightfully pleased with what was brought to the screen.

The story is a rather simple one, but there's something about the screenplay that just amps it up. We do get a bit of raunchy humor - that seems to be what sets Bridesmaids apart from other female-centric romantic comedies - mostly at the expense of Melissa McCarthy's character, and I think she's the one that drew me into the story the most. However, written within the raunch was a story with a lot of genuine laughs and definitely a lot of heart. There's definitely a very human element throughout the entirety of this film, and it all culminates in some of the final resolutions towards the end. I have to give screenwriters Annie Mumolo and Wiig herself a lot of credit for finding a perfect balance between all of those different facets of humor.

The cast is also superb and should definitely be applauded. I've been a Kristen Wiig fan for a while now, finding her quirky humor to be rather appealing and refreshing. She wrote her character's part exceptionally well and in a way that only she may have been able to pull off successfully. It's definitely Wiig's vehicle, and her presence is so strong that it's hard to deny the fact that she should now be considered a bona fide movie star. I'm also a bit of a Rose Byrne fan, and she does extremely well with her role as our main antagonist. From the first moment she appears on-screen, she oozes this personality that's so easy to hate, and that makes her all the more effective. The verbal sparring between Wiig and Byrne throughout the film is comic gold and should be viewed as such. I can't really say enough about the rest of the cast, especially the bridesmaids themselves. McCarthy brings the most outright laughter, but Kemper and McLendon-Covey definitely throw in a couple of brilliant one-liners as well. I'd also like to commend Chris O'Dowd, who works as the most prevalent male character in the film. In a movie dominated by women, he definitely holds his own.

At the end of the day, Bridesmaids may not be a movie that every guy is going to enjoy. Still, it definitely has quite a few parallels to "guy" films like 2009's The Hangover, and I personally found quite a bit to laugh at. If you're in the right mood, Bridesmaids can definitely be one of the betters comedies you've seen in a while, so I personally think you should give it a view if you've got the chance.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: A-
1.5 Thumbs Up

Movie Review: PAUL

PAUL

2011
R

Paul is a 2011 sci-fi comedy directed by Greg Mottola. It follows two nerdy Brits - Clive (Nick Frost) and Graeme (Simon Pegg) - as they travel the United States in search of famous locations of alien encounter after spending time at Comic-Con in San Diego. As they're making their way across the American Southwest in their rented RV, they watch as a smaller car spins out of control in front of them in the middle of the highway in the middle of the night. When the two get out to investigate, they meet Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), an human-savvy extra-terrestrial who claims to be on the lam from some sort of government agency. The two men reluctantly agree to help Paul in reaching his final destination, which he only says lies somewhere north of their present location. The trio starts their quest for this place, encountering opposition from a special agent named Zoil (Jason Bateman) while befriending a lonely, intelligent design-ist named Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig). The group slowly makes their way towards their final destination where Paul hopes to leave Earth for good.

I've known about Paul for quite a while, mostly because of my slight obsession with the past endeavors of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. They smashed onto the movie scene with 2004's Shaun of the Dead and upped the ante with 2007's Hot Fuzz. In both films, they turned a certain film type (zombie/romantic comedy and buddy cop flick, respectively) on their ears, and with Paul, they were trying to do the same with the sci-fi adventure. And while it's not quite at the level of their previous two films, Pegg and Frost definitely do enough with this one to make it an enjoyable venture.

The storyline really isn't much to applaud. We've basically got your standard road trip flick infused with some teenage-oriented raunchy comedy to fill our appetites. I'm sure that alone doesn't sound entirely appealing, but for this group of people, it finds a way to work. However, the real strength with the screenplay is the references to classic films past. Like Rango, Paul pays rather often homage to the great films that have come before it. Here's a short list of the films that I definitely found reference to: Raiders of the Lost Ark, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Jaws, Lorenzo's Oil, The Karate Kid, and Back to the Future. Some of the references are larger than others - Star Wars and Close Encounters get their respectful due - but this proves to be a movie that will appeal to those geeks (like me!) who have seen films like the ones listed above.

The level of acting also isn't quite up to the standards that Pegg/Frost films have set in the past, but it's good enough for you to care about the characters on-screen. Pegg and Frost may deliver characters most like their actual personalities in this one, making this one really seem like a labor of love. Wiig is good for a few hilarious scenes as she gets over her obsession with intelligent design. And Rogen is actually very good as the titular character. I think he works best as a voice actor - we get that distinctive voice without actually having to see him act. In addition to the aforementioned actors, be on the lookout for the following actors: Jeffrey Tambor, Jane Lynch, David Koechner, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio, Blythe Danner, and even a voiced cameo from Steven Spielberg.

All in all, Paul is a fine addition to the Pegg/Frost partnership despite not being quite up to snuff with its predecessors. It's still a fun watch, especially if you're a fan of these two clowns. And if you're a fan of the classic sci-fi films from years past, you should probably do yourself a favor and take in Paul while you can before he blasts off and leaves Earth for good.

Movie Review Summary:

Grade: B
2 Thumbs Up