Bridesmaids - Funny enough for a GUY to enjoy!

It’s amazing that no one has thought of this before.  After countless years of watching groups of men behaving like idiots on the big screen, we finally meet a gaggle of women who will put any stag party to shame.  A lot of people have called ‘Bridesmaids’ the ‘female version of The Hangover’ and there certainly are similarities in the set-up, but they’re both different enough to be enjoyed separately without too much comparison.

There’s a preconception (possibly among men!) that ‘women aren’t funny,’ or at least women aren’t AS funny as men.  I won’t attempt to guess at either of those statements’ validity, but I will say that ‘Bridesmaids’ goes some way to prove that women can be pretty amusing when the setting is right.  The ‘plot’ is pretty simple: a woman is getting married and invites her various friends to the various pre-wedding preparations.  Mayhem follows.

Yes, there is a strong element of ‘rom-com’ in there, but it never overshadows the general humour.  There are six central (female) characters and not all are as ‘fleshed-out’ character-wise as they possibly could be.  However, the film plays to its strengths and gives more screen time to the funnier of those among them.  Tina Fey is undoubtedly the star and proves that she's more than capable of headlining a film.

Basically, you have a light-hearted comedy/romance that should appeal to men and women.  I should point out that the humour is pretty ‘adult’ in nature and anyone easily offended by bad language may be in need of earplugs (and that’s just from the women!).

Of course it’s not for everyone.  I’m guessing its primary audience will be women.  My (male) friend warned me from ever watching this film, telling me how awful it was (I haven’t admitted I’ve seen – and enjoyed – it to him yet).  It may just be a little longer than it could have been.  It weighs in at nearly two hours and I reckon that there could have been about ten minutes trimmed out of the final act, plus a couple of the gags do seem to go on for a little longer than they should.  But those are just a couple of minor gripes - the rest is comedy gold and this will probably go down as a future classic that can be enjoyed by anyone with an adult sense of humour.

Special mention to Melissa McCarthy, who steals every scene (and every puppy).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that