Classics: A Review of Bridesmaids By Lauren Ennis

The moment that a friend asks you to be part of her bridal party is an honor. In this moment she is asking you to represent some of the best moments from her past while celebrating her future. This same moment is also one of horror as you brace yourself to boldly go where many women have gone before. In the uproarious 2011 comedy Bridesmaids one woman finds herself driven to the brink of sanity and back again all in preparation for her best friend's wedding. When Lillian asks Annie to be her maid of honor Annie happily accepts, blissfully unaware of just what she has signed herself up for. And so begins the epic journey of outrageous dresses, depleted bank accounts, and broken hearts that is the bridal party experience.

The story begins with Annie struggling to rebuild her life after losing her business and boyfriend all in one fell blow. Despite her setbacks, she does her best to carry on even as her dead end job and rent-skipping roommates threaten to hold her back. Her fragile existence is quickly upended, however, when her best friend, Lillian, announces her engagement and asks Annie to be her maid of honor. As if the ordinary stress of a planning a shower and bachelorette party weren't enough, she soon finds herself in direct competition with Lillian's seemingly perfect new friend, Helen.Even as she struggles to lead the perfect bridal party, Annie's best efforts are thwarted as Helen undermines her at every turn and transforms her modest but heartfelt plans into a catalog worthy monstrosity. It's up to Annie to reclaim her career, her love life, her best friend, and the coveted title of maid of honor before the big day. Along the way, Lillian, Helen, and Annie each learn valuable lessons in the true meaning of both success and friendship and discover that the 'perfect wedding' just might be overrated.

Upon its release, Bridesmaids was an instant hit and its little wonder why. The film manages to combine the most hilarious elements of slapstick comedy with time honored chick flick tropes to create a sharp witted, warm hearted, and side splitting comedy. Wedding films have long been a cinema staple, but rarely has a film so aptly or comically captured the mayhem that makes the big day possible. Annie could easily be dismissed as the 'maid of honor from Hell' as she leads the bridal party from one misadventure to the next, but thanks to the sympathetic script and Kristen Wiig's endearing performance, she is so much more. In Wiig's hands, she is the maid of honor that every woman is afraid of being, but all too often is as she struggles beneath the overwhelming pressure of her duties. Similarly, Rose Byrne's ice queen take on Helen captures the dark side of planning a 'perfect' wedding as she sabotages Annie's every idea, all in the name of perfection. The battle between the two highlights the impossibility of keeping up with increasingly outrageous wedding trends in the age of bridezilla. The duo's slapstick sparring also sheds light upon the ways in which today's competitive culture can lead even the most secure among us feeling unmoored.

Even at its most outrageous, however, Bridesmaids remains a tale of friendship. Annie struggles to come to terms with Lillian's impending marriage, not out out of jealousy, but our of fear that Lillian's new life may no longer have room for her in it. It is this fear that drives her from one misadventure to another as she misguidedly attempts to prove herself worthy of being Lillian's best friend and maid of honor. Through its portrayal of Annie's attempts to remain a relevant force in Lillian's changing life the film aptly portrays the ways in which time and all of the changes that it brings can threaten even the closest of friendships. By the film's conclusion you'll laugh, ugly cry, and even sing right along with Annie, Lillian, and Helen as they make the picture perfect comedy in Bridesmaids.

The film's funny script becomes the stuff of comedic gold in the hands of its talented cast. Ellie Kemper is endearingly naive without resorting to cutesiness as newlywed Becca. Wendi McLendon-Covey is the definition of desperate housewife in her caustically comic turn as frustrated Rita. Melissa McCarthy is boisterously bawdy in her riotous role as Lillian's unfiltered soon to be sister-in-law, Megan. Conniving has never looked so charming as in Rose Byrne's performance as controlling Helen. Chris O'Dowd conveys boyish charm as Annie's love interest, Officer Rhodes. Maya Rudolph brings a grounded realism to her relateable turn as bride to be Lillian. Even in the midst of stellar supporting performances, however, Kristen Wiig dominates her every scene with a physicality worthy of Lucille Ball and a dose of self-deprecation in the style of Carol Burnett.

At the time of its release Bridesmaids was marketed as 'a gross out comedy for girls', but the film is so much more. Even in the midst of its most broad humor the film offers sharp insight into female friendships, the ways in which society pits women against each other, and the toxic effects of society's obsession with 'the perfect wedding'. Through its spot-on script and expert comedic cast the film effectively sends up modern wedding mania with hilarious results. For a guaranteed laugh, get your girls together and raise a glass along with Annie, Lillian, and Helen in Bridesmaids.