Bridesmaids

June, 2011

I had looked forward to seeing this movie because of the presence of Kristen Wiig, the funny and hot Saturday Night Live comedienne.  Wiig also co-wrote the screenplay.  No one else could have gotten this screenplay past first base.

The movie is rarely funny, hardly poignant, added nothing spiritual, gave me no insights and entertained me just a little bit.  There is one scene where Wiig, as Annie, tries to get the attention of highway patrol officer Nathan Rhodes with whom she had a slightly more than casual romantic encounter.  Said officer is now ignoring her because of the failure of what was, to him, the beginning of a happily-ever-after event.  But Annie isn’t in that same space at the moment.  Her best friend, bride-to-be Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph, is missing, and Annie needs Nathan, well played by Irish actor Chris O”Dowd, to find her. 

In this scene Annie drives back and forth in front of Nathan’s parked cruiser ostentatiously breaking every law she can think of:  using a cell phone, unbuckled seat belt, drinking hooch, speeding.  He studiously ignores her until she finally gets his goat and he chases her down.  Funny scene.

But precious few of those.  The humor was adolescent and not funny.

I believe that Kristen Wiig has comedic genius in her, but all she showed here were her SNL moves.  If she wants to make the leap to the big screen she will have to use her instinctive comedic talent and her inherent sexual appeal to much greater advantage.  As for writing ability, we can’t tell if she has any.

As much as I admire Ms. Wiig and want her to succeed, I can’t give her more than two stars for this effort.