By snoadmin
When “Bridesmaids” was released in 2011, people compared it to an all-female version of “The Hangover.” Now, a year later, another wedding-based comedy featuring a female cast has been released, and it is more similar to “The Hangover” than “Bridesmaids” ever was.
The film is “Bachelorette,” written and directed by Leslye Headland, based on her play of the same name and produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay of “Funny or Die.”
The movie stars Kirsten Dunst as Regan, an obsessive maid of honor for the wedding of her overweight friend Becky (Rebel Wilson). Becky and Regan are joined by their high school friends Gena (Lizzy Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher), two immature losers who see the wedding as an excuse for drinking, drugs and meaningless sex.
Much like those in “The Hangover,” these characters are awful people, and their antics cause nothing but problems for themselves and especially the bride-to-be. The main conflict involves the wedding dress, which gets destroyed by the bridesmaids in a cocaine-addled frenzy. The male characters in the film are equally screwed up. Adam Scott (“Stepbrothers”) plays Clyde, Gena’s ex-boyfriend and a love interest she never really got over. The other groomsmen are Joe (Kyle Bornheimer), who has been obsessed with Katie for years, and Trevor (James Marsden), who is a womanizing jerk. The bridesmaids enlist their help to get the dress fixed before the wedding in the morning.
While the beginning of the film is a lot of gross-out humor and R-rated antics, the film soon becomes fairly sad. The characters are seriously messed up in the head, and the film starts to focus on their problems. Unfortunately, the film never really earns these dramatic moments, and the constant depressing scenes really start to drag after a while. Also, the storyline involving Gena and Clyde getting back together is not properly resolved and does not really work.
The cast is great, and this film is definitely a step in the right direction when it comes to R-rated comedies with a mostly female cast. However, it is unfortunate that, once again, a raunchy comedy starring women is focused around a wedding.
Not every comedy starring women has to be about getting married or wanting a perfect wedding. At least this proves that there is room for female comedians in a film that is not a romantic comedy.
‘Bachelorette’ is available now on demand from most cable providers.
