When I saw the trailer for this movie, I definitely thought it was going to be the type of movie I would enjoy. It looked like it had everything: two actresses from “Saturday Night Live” and all the crude humor associated with a Judd Apatow film. It had all the potential to be absolutely hysterical. However, most of the movie disappointed me…especially the first half. The people I saw it with thought it was ‘awesome’ or said it was ‘funny-funny,’ but I have to disagree. I would categorize it as ‘decent-funny.’ I would not go out of my way to watch this movie again.
The movie is about a single, middle-aged woman named Annie (Kristen Wiig) going through a rough patch in her life. After losing her bakery due to the recession and taking a major blow to her self-esteem in the process, we see that she has started letting the people in her life push her around. She is paying half the rent for the apartment she shares with two other people, her car is falling apart, and she is holding onto the false hope that the guy she is sleeping with is interested in more than just casual sex. When her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) gets engaged, she asks Annie to be her maid of honor. The engagement party is held at a swanky estate where Annie meets one of Lillian’s new acquaintances: Helen (Rose Byrne). She is an overdressed snob whom Annie feels immediately threatened by. Annie and Helen instantly clash as they each call themselves Lillian’s best friend. A competition to plan the best pre-wedding events, including the bachelorette party and bridal shower, quickly ensues. Unfortunately, everything Annie plans turns out to be one disaster after the next.
I did not enjoy the first half of the movie, as I laughed at maybe 10% of the jokes in that time. I found most of the acting annoying and forced, and some of the jokes went on much longer than necessary. The speech battle between Annie and Helen was funny maybe the first minute, but it definitely didn’t need to go as long as it did. Kristen Wiig’s acting is fine for SNL skits, but it’s a little too one-note and passive to pull off a main character in a feature length film. Most of the supporting actors were ok—nothing terrible, but nothing extraordinary. I did enjoy Melissa McCarthy’s portrayal of the butch of the group; it was crude yet confident, and that’s what made it stand out among the cast. The movie did have some genuinely funny scenes; it’s just too bad they had to happen toward the end of the movie. I found Annie’s misfortune during the airplane scene truly entertaining, and this was the best part of Wiig’s performance. And I do have to give this movie credit for having a developed plotline underneath all the raunchiness. Indeed, what made the second half of the movie better than the first was the character development. To my surprise, the movie actually had an uplifting, dare I say inspirational, message. I will let you watch it to find out what that message is. The first half of this movie is like watching paint dry in an empty paint can, but at least during the second half the can is half full.
By WhiteChick
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