Movie #212 Bridesmaids *2011*

When I think back at the moments in my life that I found to be the funniest, rarely are they the ones that started with a joke or a prank.  They are the moments that began with mundane, real life instances that for whatever reason became silly or embarrassing.  I'm talking about the "you had to be there" moments that are not funny at all when retold after the fact.

That is one of the reasons comedy is so difficult to write for the screen.  If you are trying to write funny jokes or set up's, there is a feeling of "trying to hard" that can totally kill any comedic momentum that you are building.  The lazy man's way around this is to insert gross out humor or shock humor.  This type of comedy is not really intended to make you laugh so much as it is to get any type of visceral reaction out of you.  The genius of the Jackass movies is that it is all shock humor.  It is like comedy porn.  Just funny money shot after funny money shot.

Bridesmaids could have fallen into the same trappings as so many other recent entries into the comedy genre.  But instead the writer and start Kristen Wiig developed a film that bounces back and forth from high brow to low brow comedy with the greatest of ease.  That is not to say that there aren't a few shocking moments in the movie.  After a suspicious meal at a low end Indian restaurant Wiig and her ensemble incurred  some gastrointestinal issues.   I have to admit to laughing at this scene more that I would have thought.

I did laugh more hardily and in a way that I will remember much more based on the small and seemingly insignificant elements of the film.  Wiig has a knack for hitting the back end of a joke or bit better than anyone working that I know of.  A traditional joke consists of two elements: The Set Up and The Punchline.  There are many variations of the formula of course, but Wiig makes a joke last forever by quitely tailing off the jokes with an ever decreasing distance.

So far I have mostly spoke of Wiig but this really is a ensemble piece.  I won't list all the actresses and actors, but I will point out a few high and low points.  Melissa McCarthy is getting a lot of praise for her performance.  She was funny, but in all fairness she had one of the schitickiest roles.  Her physical humor was flawless.  I didn't believe her character arc.  She appears near the end of the movie to life the spirits of another of the ladies and I didn't know where that came from.  Imagine a person you meet a a common friends party and then see a few more time in social situations coming over to your house to help you morn the loos of a grandparent.  That is kind of what that scene felt like to me.

Speaking of character arcs, both Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey were not so much characters as they were stereotypes.  The advertising even sold the movie this way.  The shy one and the repressed mother of 3.  I laughed at them, but not always in the way I was supposed to.  I enjoyed Maya Rudolph.  I thought her and Wiig had great chemistry and seemed like life long friends.  Rose Byrne was neither here nor there for me.

The one actor that really stood out and I felt benefited the most from this movie was Chris O'Dowd.  He plays a state trooper who falls for Wiig until she breaks his heart.  Very honest and again, quietly funny performance.

I give Bridesmaids ★★★1/2.