Belated Bridesmaids review

Hey blog readers, I'll be recapping some of my favorite films I watched this summer in the next few days. Pick them up on DVD

Bridesmaids
Credits (w/the added convenience of omitting people who you've never heard of*):
Produced by Judd Apatow and a couple other people
Directed by someone who isn't Judd Apatow but probably was mentored by him (Paul something)
Written by Kristen Wiig and someone else
Starring Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Bryne, Ellie Kemper, some Irish dude, Jon Hamm, Jill Clayburgh

*Plus the added convenience for me of not having to open up a new window on IMDB

The age old question "Can women be as funny as men?" might have possibly been put to rest with Tina Fey conquering every dominion of mandom in recent years (Saturday Night Live, movies, TV, memoirs, etc.). Bridesmaid, however, takes the question to a new extreme: "Can women be funny when transplanted into the raunchy sex-obsessed stylings of a Judd Apatow movie?"

The curiosity of whether Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph could pull it off was what drove me to the film, but I was not expecting such a poignant and satisfying film.

Wiig, who overlapped with Fey for half a season on SNL, is the 2nd successor of Tina Fey (Amy Poehler being Fey 2.0) as the emerging funnywoman who we'll learn overtime is unstoppable. Just as Poehler showed that she can create a lasting comic character with pathos in Parks and Recreation, I think "Bridesmaids" was Wiig's moment of arrival on that echelon. If I may slip in the fanciest word I know here, Wiig brings pathos to the role: She draws you into an emotional investment.

The key thing is that she can get dirty and gritty. It's never believable that someone as chipper and cheery as Meg Ryan or Drew Barrymore would ever have lows en route to love that a romantic comedy requires. "Bridesmaids" is primarily a story about a woman hitting rock bottom and finding her way out of it making the personal stories that much richer.

People are quick to label Melissa McCarthy the break-out star but I actually thought Rose Bryne's prissy rich girl added the most to the plot. She's the perfectly sensible and nice girl who girls love to hate for no reason at all other than petty jealousy. I personally felt more of an emotional investment in Kristen Wiig and Rose Bryne working out their class differences than the buddy comedy or the romantic subplots.