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The Judd Apatow-produced Bridesmaids (2011) is a dandy comedy finally marred by sentimentality and the repulsiveness of the character played by Melissa McCarthy. Oh, and there’s also Kristen Wiig’s mugging as she enacts Annie, a nigh fortyish woman whose life goes to pot now that her bakery has gone out of business and her best friend (Maya Rudolph) is engaged to be married. Annie, you see, has neither husband nor actual boyfriend.
It would be unfair, however, to ignore the ardor in Wiig’s acting. She believes in what she’s doing; she ain’t lazy.
Bridesmaids is raunchy but not excessively so. And a great deal of it is certifiably funny, albeit Apatow can’t help imposing the most pointless scatology on the film in order to attract nasty-minded male viewers. Karina Longworth in The Village Voice knows there’s a rub here: “Comedy of humiliation is one thing; a fat lady shitting in a sink is another.” (The lady in the sink is Melissa McCarthy.)
Skillfully directed by Paul Feig, penned by Wiig and Annie Mumolo, the picture works pretty well as a middlebrow adult farce until its last 15 minutes. Then it’s chick-flick time.
Question: Did Wiig write the scene in which her character has her breast fondled by Jon Hamm?
