Review: ‘Bride Wars’

Travis:

‘Bride Wars’ is essentially a romantic comedy chick flick that revolves around the rituals of the wedding. Surprisingly, the first half of the film is very entertaining. Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson actually work well together and the comedy benefits from good-timing and a strong chemistry between the two actresses. It’s not until after the first half, when the more “dramatic” leg of the story kicks in, that I lost interest and found myself yawning and going “ah, geez… how sappy?”

Emma (Hathaway) and Liv (Hudson) are two best friends since childhood who dream of having June weddings at The Plaza. Their whole lives are been molded by this desire and when the ring is finally presented it’s like a dream come true. The problem, however, is that this occurs for both friends and when they try and book the plaza, a mistake is made and both weddings are scheduled for the same day. This is where the comedy really begins and, while it’s not all that original, is entertaining.

Candice Bergen plays Marion St. Claire, the most-famous and highly sought-after wedding planner in New York. Emma and Liv both idolize her and hire her to plan their weddings. It’s also a booking error by Marion’s secretary that causes the entire comedic war of the weddings in the first place. Bergen’s performance is basically textbook typical and just feels like Murphy Brown changed careers. Again, the comedy is enjoyable, but unless you’re into highly-predictable, fairy tale come true endings and sappy stories of romance and friendship, you may want to just wait for this on DVD.

[Overall: 2.75 stars out of 5]

Jeremy:

Sometimes a film takes the best elements out of the conventional Hollywood style of filmmaking and turns out rather entertaining. These films, though completely shaded over by the ridiculous escapism found in the movie industry, make for a fun time even if they are faker than Rolex watch found on a New York street corner. Take ‘Bride Wars’, for example. It’s conventional. It’s nothing we haven’t seen a hundred times before. There’s no deep-seeded message that is to be gained from it. If anything, it probably does more harm than good to the wedding-obsessed culture. However, it’s a fun film that offers up some unpredictable laughs and genuine performances.

Kate Hudson plays Liv. Anne Hathaway plays Emma. Childhood friends, they grow up promising each other that they would always be there for one another and promising themselves that they would have the most perfect wedding ever put on display. Leave it up to film logic and some nicely placed deus ex machina to put their two weddings on the exact same day. Before you know it, these two lifelong gal pals are at each other’s throat, sabotaging one another’s “most perfect day† with ruthless abandon.

‘Bride Wars’ was directed by Gary Winick, who made a name for himself with the 2002, indie film ‘Tadpole’. He’s come a long way. ‘Tadpole’ was a no frills comedy that was filmed on a shoestring budget and looked exactly like it was. Now that he has a budget behind him, Winick is able to put a little style into filmmaking techniques.

‘Bride Wars’ is injected with style. It has to be. Any film that glorifies the act of getting married as much as this has to be chic infused to the brim. Women filmgoers all over the world will swoon over the Vera Wang wedding dress and the Tiffany’s engagement ring. This isn’t the movie to take your wife-to-be to if you’re wanting a quiet, little ceremony.

The screenplay, though it follows most of the trappings of traditional Hollywood films, allows itself just enough variances on the typical comedy to feel somewhat fresh. When you get more than two screenwriters credited on a film, it tends to feel patch worked between all the different drafts the script goes through. ‘Bride Wars’ was written by five, different screenwriters, but it feels cohesive enough to not throw you from one scene to the next.

You understand full well why Liv and Emma are going at each other as hard as they do. There are never character choices that feel forced or wholly unrealistic.

There are some legitimate surprises in the film, as well. Going into it, you may think you know how it is going to end, and there was definitely a sappy, Hollywood ending the film could have fallen into very easily. It doesn’t allow itself to do that, and the way it does end is refreshing.

Hathaway and Hudson work really well together. Hathaway, in particular, does a great job with the character she’s given. She has a way of transforming her appearance drastically and this skill is necessary for her Emma’s alterations throughout the film. Hudson is decent enough in her part, but you clearly see who the real actress is when she’s butting heads with her on-screen counterpart.

The secondary cast is pretty forgettable save for Kristen Johnston who seems to be channeling Kathleen Turner and not in a good way. John Pankow returns from the 80s land of the lost actors, but his hairline has always been a better actor than he is.

‘Bride Wars’ is better than it deserves to be. It will be a riot for those among you who fit into its target demographic. Women are going to eat this film up, but the men they drag along shouldn’t get too discouraged. It is conventional, but it’s also reasonably entertaining. It offers a lot of laughs, most of which are genuine or witty, and, when all is said and done, that’s about as much as you can hope for from a film of this nature.

[Overall: 3.5 stars out of 5]

Ram Man:

I actually like a good “Chick Flick”. My manhood has been previously questioned in previous reviews I have posted on this site (Mama Mia, Sisterhood 2, Sex & the City). So I was curious when i went to check out Gary Winick’s (13 going on 30) new comedy ‘Bride Wars’. Winick produced one of my favorite films ‘Pieces of April’ (2003), so I had high expectations going into this 90 minutes of comedic bridal bliss.

Oh, did I mention, Kate Hudson is in this. She is on a losing streak that would rival the NFL’s Detroit Lions. I’m beginning to wonder if someone switched the kids at birth. Goldie (Hawn) was cute and hilarious….Kate is pretty but not so funny. I can tolerate ‘How to Lose a Guy’ but her last great film was 9 years ago! (Almost Famous) Luckily Ann Hathaway is co-starring and is strong enough as an actress and funny enough to carry the film.

‘Bride Wars’ is another we have to wreck the wedding comedy. Only this time it’s the Brides doing all of the damage. Two best friends, Emma (Hathaway) and Liv (Hudson), joined at the hip for 20 years. These girls do everything together. So their dream……to get married at the Plaza hotel in New York City in June. Emma gets engaged and Liv follows suit less than a week later. So the girls head down to meet with “Oprah” of wedding planners Marion St. Clair (Murphy Brown herself Candice Bergen). She handles all the weddings at the Plaza Hotel. Did I mention she doesn’t handle personally. Following a clerical error by St. Clair’s (former) assistant, Emma and Liv’s weddings are scheduled for the exact same day!

This just won’t do! You see they are also each other’s bridesmaids so unless they can be in two places at once,,,someone has to switch their date. The next June wedding at the plaza is available in 3 years. Hello…Vegas is open 24/7 and there are chapels in every hotel! (Remember I’m a guy!) With this bad news, neither one is about to switch their date.

“DING” DING” Let the battles begin! Liv and Emma begin their mission to wreck the other brides wedding. You have Emma with her spray-on tan resembling a traffic cone (orange) after Liv switch the color in the booth. Emma then changed the hair coloring for Liv, who ended up looking like smurfette. You have many other attacks and counter attack by both brides until you feel sorry for the grooms (Chris Pratt,Steve Howey). There is also an uninspiring performance from normally hilarious Kristen Johnson (3rd Rock) as Deb, Emma’s overbearing teaching buddy who is drafted in to the war as Emma’s bridesmaid. Liv promotes her assistant at the law firm where she works to be her bridesmaid. Oh… by the way, his name is Kevin (Michael Arden). (This was just done with P. Dempsey last year in Maid of Honor)

This film is targeting a female audience between the ages of 15-35. If that is you…you will enjoy this film! If your like me, looking for a good comedy to start off 2009 wait for this to hit the DVD shelves. Guy’s if it is date night…see the movie first and catch a matinee of ‘Bride Wars’ and get dinner after. There are enough laughs from Hathaway and during the war to get you through it. I may be a bit harsh to start off 2009 with ‘Bride Wars’, i did enjoy the first half of the film. But, as in too many comedies put out these days, the writers seem to be going stong in the begining of the film and it’s like a buzzer goes of and they just end it. This causes the film to come to a screeching hault in the end. This is true with ‘Bide Wars’ also. I won’t give up the end but you will know it by the midpoint in the film.

[Overall: 2.5 stars out of 5]