The first thing I know after looking at this poster is 'I gotta see this movie', and right away I'm like 'what'?
I mean, I don't watch this kind of thing. There's some people, some have kids, there's issues related to having kids, lots of talk about having kids or making babies loaded with subtext and pop references, funny situations loaded with subtext and pop references, several scenes in restaurants and bars (drinks in hand) where they talk about having kids and how their lives are so very different (in a funny way) than when they didn't have kids, a character with no kids who everyone envies except he/she is not really happy but only kinda happy and wishes he/she had kids of his/her own even though he/she can see how messed up the lives of the people who have kids are, and in the end everyone learns lessons about what's really important in life (both theirs and those who either do or do not have kids)...not so much for me.
So, why do 'I gotta see this movie' again? Because of Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig. They've become must-see since 'Bridesmaids'. Plus, there's Megan Fox who I like and think can do good work, despite all the bloggers that tell me otherwise. She's up in Judd Apatow's 'This is 40' next, so -- come on. Plus, she plays a character named Mary Jane in this movie. Really -- that's got to mean something.
At this point I will see any movie with Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig. That may change, it's got to change -- at some point. However, it may not. It may never change. Movies with these two funny, smart, believable actors may forever be must-see. We'll see.
For now, we have this poster. The check box thing is kinda clever, you gotta admit. Admit it!
Just listened to Paul Feig with Elvis Mitchell on The Treatment.
Feig says that, to him, one of the most important things in comedy is that characters come off real, that they're something the audience, real people, can connect with. Looks like he succeeded with 'Bridesmaids'. It has a flow. Like these are everyday people who just happen to be in a movie.
Like this scene:
Rings true. You know these two people are friends.
Even when the setup is conventional the energy works. It's not like a line-reading.
When I first saw this I braced myself for that point when the schtick would get uncomfortable to watch. It didn't happen. It never became schtick. Rose Byrne stays sincere, real, the whole time, and because of that it's funny. You feel for her. She's so determined, and a little sad and lonely. It's touching and comic.
But, the flick isn't a touchy-feely exploration of friendships (between women). It gets pretty raunchy, as gross as anything from the Apatow boy's club. (If anything, more so).
'Bridesmaids' doesn't pull punches like a by-the-numbers girly comedy (I won't offer any titles but there's a non-stop parade. They're sterile, predictable, safe, with fakey cutesy scenes that nobody can get invested in without feeling like an ass, and they fail again and again).
This scene would usually have that vaudeville feel -- as if each joke is followed by an unheard ba-dum ching drum shot:
Plays great. Just rolls. Sick funny, but also real and natural. I can't think of another recent comedy that features women in central roles that goes there, pulls that off.
Audiences have responded. There's good buzz. 'Bridesmaids' may have legs.
I put this up earlier today, but it fits here, so I'll post it again:
