Bridesmaids Review

Summery
While neither revelatory nor outstanding, Bridesmaids is well written, well acted, and funny, and for the most part, it deserves two hours of your time.

Full Review
The word overrated is thrown around a lot today, and has been scorned by many, but I think it just might apply to Bridesmaids. Let me preface this review by saying that I actually liked Bridesmaids, it’s well made, well written, featuring great performances from the whole cast, and if you think in anyway that you just might enjoy it, then I’d give it a recommendation. However, given that this is a film that was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Comedy or Musical, and given that it has been suggested by more than a few people that it deserves an Oscar nod, it must be judged in accordance with these lofty heights. For all it’s prowess, for all it’s positives, and it has many, Bridesmaids never for a moment catches fire, never dazzles or amazes in any department. It’s a film best described as simply “good”. Nothing more, nothing less than a good, solid, well made film. Is this truly where the film watching population has got to? Have we really reached the point where we are shouting “Oscar” just because a comedy was made that didn’t completely suck? I shouldn’t hold any of these musings against the film though.

The plot is fairly straightforward. Our protagonist is named Annie, her best friend is getting married, and she asks Annie to be her maid of honour. However, as events unfold, Annie feels her role is threatened by the film’s dominant, overbearing antagonist, Helen. There’s nothing wrong with having a simple story, it can leave room for smart writing and good acting to shine, however, when one can accurately predict all the films major events by the 20-minute mark, then you need to try a little bit harder, in this reviewers’ humble opinion. The pacing is also a little clumsy, some scenes drag on for far too long, while in the films second half, without giving too much away, there are four events in the life of our protagonist that one would be inclined to think of as rather major events, all of which happen in the space of about 10 minutes. It doesn’t shatter the feelings of sympathy and empathy that the film has generated up to that point, but it does somewhat hurt the immersion level.

On the positive side, the films strong points are it’s acting and writing, and, if you’re going to have strong points, then those are two categories you would want them in. The acting is good for the most part, the whole cast does a pretty good job, the characters are all very believable and fit their solid, but somewhat uninventive roles, more than adequately. The writing is also good, occasionally showing flashes of greatness, the dialogue is all very believable and there are one or two genuinely very clever lines. Despite it’s somewhat poor plot, it tells it’s story in the right manner, it’s plot points aren’t force fed, exposition dumps are few and far between, and, though one would expect it to be simple to tell a simple story, credit must go where it is due.

Should I see it?
If you’ve already decided that Bridesmaids is or isn’t for you, then I doubt this review will change your mind. But, for what it’s worth, if you are considering checking it out, then you should. If you aren’t considering it, then I advise you do so.

Overall Score
68/100