It used to be that raunchy, rude comedies were primarily dominated by (and for) the men. You know, the Judd Apatow variety like "The 40 Year-Old Virgin", "Knocked Up" or "Superbad". Men behaving badly.
But hey now, what is this? Judd Apatow for women? Equal opportunity vulgarity?
I've probably said this before, but I do not tolerate all comedies gladly. There better be more than cheap jokes and bathroom humor and predictable sap or I am going to climb up on something high up and yell righteously "thou art wasting my TIME!".
But goodness, we all heard so much about this one. EW was nearly writhing in ecstasy, the critics LOVED it. Melissa McCarthy was nominated for an OSCAR! In a bawdy romp! I had to see this for myself.
Turns out, yeah, it is pretty darned funny. Melissa McCarthy well-earned that Oscar nom because she was HILARIOUS. She nearly made the entire movie. I can't even begin to describe her character Megan, so I will quote GQ by describing her as "a self-made woman of great machismo, voracious sexual appetites, mysterious financial resources, and a truly atrocious wardrobe." They also called her performance "the bravest, most bat-shit, most balls-out performance". Yep, that about covers it. So if you are going to watch this movie, do it for her.
But equally as entertaining is the movie's co-writer (screenplay nominated for an Oscar) and leading lady Kristen Wiig. Kristen plays 30-something Annie whose bakery has gone under, shares an apartment with a creepy British brother and sister duo with an ambiguous relationship, gets an occasional booty call from a good-looking guy that never wants her to spend the night, and is in a dead-end job that she hates. Things go from bad to worse when her BFF gets engaged, and the perfect, rich and beautiful wife of the fiancé's boss takes over, claiming full control of the wedding and the BFF. Thus throwing Annie into a complete tailspin. Good thing a bumbling and adorable cop with an Irish accent casts his eye on the hapless woman.
Some of the funnier moments include a violent attack of food poisoning while trying on pricey, French-designed bridesmaids dresses, a hedonistic trip to Vegas that goes awry, and a Provence-inspired bridal shower where puppies in berets are offered as party favors.
It is completely, 100% predictable. But it is in the execution that it stands out above the masses. The movie has language and sex scenes sans body parts (in fact, there is one that lasts the first 10 minutes of the movie) so I'll just throw that out there. In case your 14 year-old daughter should go to a friend's house where they are a little lax in the supervisory arena, you should just probably tell her that she is not allowed to watch this SPECIFIC movie. Just sayin'.
Highly recommended.
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15 comments:
I feel like an idiot for just now having realised that McCarthy was Sookie from Gilmore Girls! So yeah, I love her already, I just didn't know it :P Will definitely have to watch this.
I did think Melissa McCarthy was great in this movie but, for me, the cheap jokes and bawdiness grew a little old before the movie was over. A little of that goes a long way as far as I'm concerned. I kind of felt like I was too old for the movie when I saw it.
The depth of this movie actually surprised me -- in a good way. I figured it would be all cheap jokes and bathroom humor, but I actually teared up a few times -- especially when Maya Rudolph's bride character is talking to Kristen Wiig about how she's spending her last night in her own place, etc. And the thoughts on friendship were pretty accurate. And yeah, it was really funny! Melissa McCarthy was too much. Awesome.
I'm totally with Kathy on this one! I picked up my book halfway through....
And see, the whole food poisoning thing means I'll never watch this movie. I like all kinds of humor, but if there's a scene with vomiting I'm out. I have a phobia/severe sensitivity to seeing it, even if somewhere in my brain I know it's faked for the movie. I wish I didn't though, I miss out on a lot of good movies because of it. A lot of times though my husband will watch a movie that he knows I will like and then we'll watch it together and he'll skip it past those parts - he's such a sweetie! (Blades of Glory comes to mind - love that film, but I would have hated it had I stumbled on the sick scene myself.)
A good friend of mine has said this movie was hilarious and that I would enjoy it, but I haven't seen it yet. It might make for a nice laid back afternoon viewing, but let's face it, when am I ever going to have a nice laid back afternoon. Still, after reading your great review on this one, I will be checking it out. Maybe I can get Frank to watch it with me!
I loved this movie. It was hilarious and that food poisoning/dresses scene just cracked me up. You could see it coming a mile away. This one is good for a laugh.
I so need to rent this one!
When we rented it because everyone was raving about it, I was surprised how it felt a little flat at first. Then the food poisoning scene came and it picked up quite a bit. I agree with you about Melissa McCarthy -- it was a great performance. My favorite line was when she says how she took 9 puppies as party favors from the shower. That killed me.
I wasn't a fan but will say the getting sick scene while trying on the dresses was great enough, I will watch that scene again and probably laugh the same again. The rest I can pass though. And Melissa, just brilliant.
I still haven't seen this one or that Bachelor Party one (that was the title, right?). I do love the idea of an all-female comedy, though.
I loved this one too. I couldn't stop laughing in certain scenes, but I also loved that they made the women's friendship important, not just their love lives.
I loved this one too. I couldn't stop laughing in certain scenes, but I also loved that they made the women's friendship important, not just their love lives.
So many people have told me to watch this and yet I keep putting it off...bad me.
I can't wait to see this one and can't quite believe that I haven't!
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