Bridesmaids (2011)

Competition between the maid of honor and a bridesmaid, over who is the bride's best friend, threatens to upend the life of an out-of-work pastry chef.

Director:

Paul Feig

Writers:

Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo

Stars:

Kristen Wiig, Terry Crews, Maya Rudolph

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 11 wins & 44 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Kristen Wiig	...	Annie Walker
Terry Crews	...	Boot Camp Instructor
Maya Rudolph	...	Lillian
Tom Yi	...	Jewelry Store Couple
Elaine Kao	...	Jewelry Store Couple
Michael Hitchcock	...	Don Cholodecki
Kali Hawk	...	Kahlua
Joe Nunez	...	Oscar the Security Guard (as Joseph A. Nunez)
Rebel Wilson	...	Brynn
Matt Lucas	...	Gil
Jill Clayburgh	...	Annie's Mom
Wendi McLendon-Covey	...	Rita
Ellie Kemper	...	Becca
Greg Tuculescu	...	Kevin
Steve Bannos	...	Annie's Mistaken Husband

Storyline

Annie (Kristen Wiig), is a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony. Annie's life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love.

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Plot Keywords:

bridesmaid | maid of honor | best friends | friendship | cake | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong sexuality, and language throughout

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [es]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 May 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Damas en guerra

Filming Locations:

Venice, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$32,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$26,247,410 (USA) (13 May 2011)

Gross:

$169,076,745 (USA) (23 September 2011)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Relativity Media, Apatow Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min 131 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Several directors were considered for the film including Greg Mottola, Todd Phillips, David Gordon Green, David Wain, and Jake Kasdan. However, all of them were unavailable. Anne Fletcher was the only female director considered, but they decided against hiring her.

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Goofs

In the dress shop, Annie's sweat spot on her dresses switches from big to small and back again.

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Quotes

[repeated line]
Rhodes: Really?

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show with Jay Leno: Episode #20.192 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Do-Wah-Doo"
Written and Performed by Kate Nash

User Reviews

A hilarious and surprisingly touching comedy

My friends invited me to a preview screening of Bridesmaids last night, and I accepted the invitation with a sense of cautious optimism. The trailer for the film admittedly didn't do much for me, but I was intrigued by the concept of a female-driven Apatow film. Ultimately, I went into the theater with modest expectations, hoping to get a few good laughs out of it.

By the time we came out of the theater, my three friends and I had smiles plastered across our faces, and we couldn't stop talking about the film for the next couple hours. We all loved it. I think it easily ranks with the best of the Apatow productions, and it might even be my personal favorite. Like all of Apatow's productions, there are admittedly scenes that arguably go a little too far or a little too long, but that's a small criticism when the film successfully fires on so many other cylinders.

To start with, the film is hilarious, and I think the comedy far exceeds the standalone bits shown in the trailer. Scene after scene is filled with humorous and often sidesplitting moments, and they had the theater in an uproar during the screening. I can't say enough about Kristen Wiig. Prior to this, I've always liked her to some extent but never really loved her. I think she's good at what she does, but I wasn't sure her shtick could sustain an entire film. Would her passive aggressive wit get old? Is it the only note she can play? Can she handle anything more dramatic? Ultimately, she blew me away in this film. Not only is she consistently and uniquely funny, but her character is surprisingly well-developed, and Wiig brings the character to vibrant and dynamic life on-screen.

And this brings me to my next point about Bridesmaids: the film has a surprising amount of depth that completely caught me off guard. Bridesmaids isn't a quickie 80-minute gag fest by any stretch of the imagination; it's actually a leisurely paced 2-hour character-driven comedy that takes time to develop its characters and establish the various relationships and resultant conflicts between them. Ultimately, the film ends up being quite heartfelt and even rather sad in places. Despite the over-the-top antics shown in the trailer, the themes that the film explores are actually quite grounded. Kristen Wiig's character is someone who is feeling completely let down by life, which is a place we've all been, and the personal journey of her character resonated strongly for me. While her character is easily the most well-developed of the bunch, even the other bridesmaids ultimately show some three-dimensionality as well, despite the fact that they are sometimes initially introduced as two-dimensional caricatures.

Ultimately, Bridesmaids was one of the most enjoyable comedies I've seen in a long time. It's certainly not perfect: it could probably do with some editing, there might be a few too many subplots (some of which are left unexplored), and it arguably goes too over-the-top at times, but everything else about the film works so well that these complaints are little more than nitpicks. While I applaud everyone involved in the production, it is Kristen Wiig who deserves the most accolades. As co-writer and lead actress, she plays a huge part in the film's success, and I sincerely hope this film puts her on the Hollywood map, as I would love to see more from her in the future. Whatever the case may be, Bridesmaids certainly makes for a successful maiden voyage for her into the world of feature-film comedies.