Bridesmaids (2011)
Bridesmaids (2011) — So from the trailer I thought this looked like a very stupid movie, but then I kept hearing from a lot of varied people that it is actually quite funny. Turns out it’s somewhere in between. Bridesmaids does actually have a lot of funny moments and makes a good case for why Kristen Wiig should plays PEOPLE instead of idiosyncratically-voiced caricatures more often. There’s also a funny subplot involving a world-weary mother of three (Wendi McLenon-Covey from Reno 911) and a newlywed (Ellie Kemper from The Office) that doesn’t get near enough screen time. Actually the more bizarre parts of the movie are the funniest. Whenever it focuses on the main narrative arc it kind of has trouble walking that line between funny and sad. I’ve been learning recently that that’s a pretty hard line to walk. I like Jon Hamm’s extended cameo as the total jerkass that Wiig has casual sex with. Maya Rudolph does really do much in this movie, which is a damn shame since she was funny on Saturday Night Live and a couple years ago proved herself a very capable serious actress in Away We Go. She has a significant amount of screen time but it feels like the material she’s given never really works. For all its problems (and they are many) I did laugh a lot at Bridesmaids so I suppose that’s a recommendation.
Persistence of Vision 