Bride Wars (2009)

Two best friends become rivals when they schedule their respective weddings on the same day.

Director:

Gary Winick

Writers:

Greg DePaul (screenplay), Casey Wilson (screenplay),

Stars:

Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Bryan Greenberg

1 win & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kate Hudson	...	Liv
Anne Hathaway	...	Emma
Bryan Greenberg	...	Nate
Chris Pratt	...	Fletcher
Steve Howey	...	Daniel
Candice Bergen	...	Marion
Kristen Johnston	...	Deb
Michael Arden	...	Kevin
Victor Slezak	...	Colson
Kelly Coffield Park	...	Kathy
John Pankow	...	John
Zoe O'Grady	...	Young Liv
Shannon Ferber	...	Young Emma
June Diane Raphael	...	Amanda
Charles Bernard	...	Wedding DJ

Storyline

In Manhattan, the lawyer Liv and the school teacher Emma have been best friends since their childhood. They both are proposed to by their boyfriends on the same day and they plan their wedding parties in Plaza Hotel, using the services of the famous Marion St. Claire. However, due to Marion's secretary's mistake, their weddings are scheduled for the same day. None of them agrees to change the date and they become enemies, trying to sabotage the wedding party of the rival.

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Plot Keywords:

wedding | best friend | wedding party | hotel | school teacher | 

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Taglines:

Even best friends can't share the same wedding day.

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for suggestive content, language and some rude behavior

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [fr] Fox International

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Guerra de novias

Filming Locations:

Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,717,894 (UK) (9 January 2009)

Gross:

$58,715,510 (USA) (8 May 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fox 2000 Pictures, Regency Enterprises, New Regency Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several wives and girlfriends of current Red Sox players were extras in the wedding shower scene.

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Goofs

At the wedding planner's, when "Emma" learns her DJ has been booked, Deb calls Emma "Anne" (her real name).

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Quotes

[from trailer]
Emma: [to Liv] Your wedding's gonna be huge, just like your ass at prom.
Liv: Your wedding can suck it.

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Connections

Referenced in Bad Movie Beatdown: When in Rome (2011)

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Soundtracks

"You've Made Me So Very Happy"
Written by Brenda Holloway (as Brenda Holloway Davis), Berry Gordy (as Berry Gordy, Jr.), Patrice Holloway, and Frank Edward Wilson
Performed by Ryan Shaw
Ryan Shaw performs courtesy of Razor & Tie Direct, LLC.

User Reviews

Let's get married... yeah, right

Martin Scorsese once famously said he does one movie for the studio and one for himself, and so do many other directors or actors (George Clooney admits he did Ocean's Thirteen because that way he could do Michael Clayton next). Although Anne Hathaway hasn't explicitly said she does that, one can assume it's the only rational explanation for a piece of anti-cinematic trash like Bride Wars. Shooting The Devil Wears Prada after Brokeback Mountain is one thing, tainting your Oscar-nominated legacy with this bunch of nonsense is another.

And yet it sounded like it could be a lot of fun, at least judging by the premise, which reverses the classic wedding stereotype: women are in it for the romance, guys are game because it's fun (that's what they make it look like in American comedies, anyway). This time around, the dudes are in it for the love, and the girls want to get married just to make a childhood dream come true. Apparently, if you're a woman and live in Manhattan, the ultimate dream of your life is to get married at the Plaza in June, so when best friends Liv (Kate Hudson with a Paris Hilton/Britney Spears haircut) and Emma (Hathaway) get asked the fundamental question by their beaus, they immediately try to book the right place and date. A mix-up occurs, and so they're both stuck with the same date, June 6th. Neither wants to postpone what's supposed to be the happiest day of their lives, therefore a full-on war is declared on both parts.

At this point, the real silliness kicks in: diet sabotage, tans gone awry and the occasional witty remark, like "Your wedding's gonna be huge, just like your ass at prom". What started as a potentially entertaining critique of materialism and shallowness is revealed to be a poorly executed farce, with a succession of lame jokes instead of a plot (then again, one of the screenwriters is best known for performing on Saturday Night Live, where the skits have no connection whatsoever, so that may be an explanation) and two atrocious caricatures instead of leading ladies.

In fairness, no one ever expected any true brilliance from Hudson, given the last really good movie she appeared in was Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous in 2000, but surely someone could have told Hathaway you just don't choose something this bland after working with Jonathan Demme (or Ang Lee, for that matter). Maybe she wanted to return to her comedic roots, but sadly there's nothing even remotely funny in Bride Wars, save for a few brief scenes featuring the reliable Candice Bergen. Everything else is just like Liv and Emma: obsessed with getting everything right, but ultimately too self-centered to get any sympathy from others.