The Bridesmaids: Nothing Funny About It
My wife and I decided to watch a movie in the hotel last night, something we haven’t done in ages. But room service and a film looked good after a hectic day in New York. Most of the movies we hadn’t even heard of, and the “stars” were unknown to us.
But we found “Bridesmaids” which had received some decent ratings. It stars and is co-written by Kristen Wiig, who has been a Saturday Night Live main player during its most recent, and worst, seasons.
When did mindless profanity and scatological portrayals start to pass for humor? I enjoy raunchy movies, and thought “Porky’s” was hysterical, as an example. But it had a story line, plausible relationship with reality, and excellent acting.
To call Bridesmaids a piece of crap would simply be describing any one of numerous scenes in it. The movie is symbolized by its highlighted scene, where the bride-to-be defecates in a wedding gown in the middle of a major street as traffic passes by. There are people defecating in sinks, vomiting on each other, and passing gas in public. There is a state trooper whose uniform looks like that of a chicken farmer and who apparently can use his cruiser whenever he likes, in uniform or not. Oh, and he can drink at a bar in uniform, too.
Annie Mumolo, whoever she is, wrote this with Wiig, although “writing” is too kind a term, sort of like calling a mudslide “art.” Rose Byrne, by far the weakest actor in the otherwise excellent “Damages” (when she’s on screen with Glenn Close it’s actually painful to watch the difference) is consistently bad in this mess.
A lot of the movie seems improvised, and poorly, but there is a director’s credit to Paul Feig, who ought to start wearing disguises until he leaves the country.
It’s an insult to consider endless obscenity art, let alone comedy, and it’s a poor reflection on our culture that this stuff can actually be funded and promoted. My rating: minus 10. That means you should boycott theaters that show it and watch a porn channel before you tune in to this profoundly pathetic schoolyard tripe. Maybe I’m unfair, since we used to have rules about relieving yourself in the schoolyard.
© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.
Dave Gardner
Thanks for taking one for the team! You’ve spoken and written about the “dumbing down” of our society. This movie sounds like it was tailor-made for an audience that appreciates that type of humor. Are you troubled that there’s an audience for this?
Meredith Hamilton
This movie caused me to question my taste in friends, as it came highly recommended by more than one person. I bowed out about one-third of the way through but was assured by those that finished it that it did not improve. That it made and received good reviews is a frightening comment on our society indeed.
Alan Weiss
Grossness and the lowest common denominator always bother me, whether it’s the creators or the viewers.