Film Review: BRIDESMAIDS (2011)

Director: Paul Feig
Writers: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
Running time: 120 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

Genre: Comedy/Romance
UK Release date: 24^th June 2011

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 16^th June 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This was the hit comedy of 2011… ‘Even Better than The Hangover’ it proudly proclaims on the poster. For me, that’s not hard, I really didn’t enjoy The Hangover (ducks to avoid flack). There are obvious parallels here but I thought this film was far superior; everything about it from the writing to the performances was so much better. It’s not perfect though, but I’ll tell you about that after this brief summary.

Lillian is getting married and her best friend that she grew up with, Annie Walker, is to be her maid of honour. Now Lillian has made new friends through her husband to be, one of which is Helen, who sees herself as Lillian’s new best friend. It all becomes very competitive as the pair of them vies to do right by Lillian, at times with hilarious consequences (but not always). Annie has a failed bakery business behind her and Helen is married to Dougie’s boss and so is quite well off. In her personal life, Annie is sleeping with a man who doesn’t want a relationship; in fact he’s not to keen on her even spending the night! It’s all getting a bit much for Annie when she’s pulled over by a cop, Rhodes; can he put her back on track? Will she ever come to terms with Helen? These and many other questions are to be answered… and don’t think I’m answering them here! No, Officer Rhodes would have my license! He’s tough you know.

Very well made and yes, it did pass the ‘six laugh test’ – If a comedy doesn’t get more than six laughs from me… it ain’t no comedy! As for performances, well, everyone was very good; Kristen Wiig as Annie Walker, Maya Rudolph as Lillian and Rose Byrne as Helen all did great jobs. I loved Melissa McCarthy as Megan, she really made me laugh and (of course) Chris O'Dowd as Rhodes; I know him from the TV show ‘The IT Crowd’ here in the UK. Also worthy of note were; Rebel Wilson as Brynn, Matt Lucas as Gil, Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita and Ellie Kemper as Becca. Oh, and look out for Jon Hamm (uncredited) as Ted.

A story about popularity, friendship, love, relationships… all kinds of stuff really; I was kind of struggling to keep up by the end! There is a trend in comedies (of late) of putting people in awkward, uncomfortable, often embarrassing situations and I must say I’m afraid don’t find it funny. You are made to care about a particular character and then laugh at them as they squirm in an uncomfortable situation. Sorry people, it just doesn’t do anything for me. As far as this film goes, yes there were some of those moments, but there were also some truly comic moments, mostly supplied by the wonderful Melissa McCarthy, it has to be said; although Kristen Wiig and Chris O'Dowd did raise a titter or two. The surprise for me though, was the performance of Rose Byrne, she did really well in a genre I wouldn’t particularly associate with her. Over all, I must say, despite a couple of misgivings, I did enjoy this film a lot more than I expected to… Recommended.

My score: 7.1/10

IMDb Score: 6.9/10 (based on 93,096 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1478338/

MetaScore: 75/100: (Based on 39 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 90/100 (based on 232 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 73/100 ‘Liked It’ (based on 87,373 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bridesmaids_2011/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Megan: I'm glad he's single because I'm going to climb that like a tree.

Helen's Stepson: I've seen better tennis playing in a tampon commercial.

Rhodes: Do you want to tell a cop about it? We're just like priests except we would tell everybody afterwards.

Rhodes: If I wasn't a cop anymore, I would still go out with a gun and shoot people.

Annie: This is the first time I've seen you look ugly, and that makes me happy!

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.bridesmaidsmovie.com
Trailer:

Film Review: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT TIME TRAVEL (2009)

Director: Gareth Carrivick
Running time: 83 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 15

UK release date: 24th April 2009

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 8th August 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is a British made film, actually a co-production between BBC films, Dog Lamp Films and HBO Films, but made here in the UK. I saw it mentioned last year on TV and thought it was one I would never see as it didn’t make it to any of my local cinemas. But thanks to it being a BBC co-production, it aired in TV this week and I’m really glad I got to finally see it.

Three friends, Ray, Toby and Pete work at an amusement park. Ray has just been sacked from his job after making his depiction of life in the Space Corps to a bunch of kids a little bit too realistic. He is a bit of a sci-fi geek and is really into the concept of time travel. Toby, also a bit of a geek, is an aspiring writer and is always jotting down ideas in a black book he always carries with him. Pete is just an ordinary guy out with his mates. After work they decide to go to the cinema and then on to the pub. They were not impressed with the film they saw and decide to write a letter to Hollywood on the back of one of the pages from Toby’s book. With glasses empty, Ray is volunteered to get a round in. He goes through to the next room where he meets Cassie, a girl who claims to be from the future. She has come back to fix a hole in time. Ray initially treats this chance meeting as a joke, but things are about to get very serious for the three friends.

Obviously made on a very small budget with most of the action centred on the pub, but nonetheless a very well made film. Quite a short film at only 83 minutes, but this, to me, was just about the right length. Decent performances all around, so honourable mentions must go out to; Chris O'Dowd as Ray, Marc Wootton as Toby, Dean Lennox Kelly as Pete, Anna Faris as Cassie and Meredith MacNeill as Millie.

As a bit of a fan of Sci-Fi I really enjoyed this film. I found it clever and witty and it put me in mind of the great British TV comedy ‘Red Dwarf’, although it’s not set in space. A nicely written script with likeable characters and not too many clichés, to me, (and I’ll probably get slagged off for this) even better than ‘Shaun of the Dead’ (shock!).

I read that the director, Gareth Carrivick sadly died earlier this year from Leukaemia. He had worked in TV on many shows I have enjoyed over the years, particularly comedy and I think this was a good one to finish on, nice work sir! Recommended.

My score: 7.4/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0910554/
Official Site: http://www.faqmovie.co.uk/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi408552217/