Bride Wars Review

I found myself not wanting to write this review. I have to say I really wanted to like "Bride Wars" but it fell short of my expectations. A big part of my philosophy as a critic is that things should be judged by how well they perform in their own genre. All signs pointed to "Bride Wars" being a fun mindless chick flick, so please know I did not have high expectations going into the film.

The biggest disappointment of "Bride Wars" was that the commercials and trailers gave away all of the funniest moments. Perhaps if I headed into the theater not knowing that Anne Hathaway would be orange, or that Kate Hudson would get blue hair, or perhaps if I never saw the clip of the two brides fighting in full wedding gear this movie would have been funnier. I felt like all of it's greatest jokes were thrown away. Yes, there was still a twist in the plot that you would not expect to happen from commercials alone, however I guessed it about 15 minutes into the movie.

There were still some very funny moments to be sure. Kate Hudson is absolutely hilarious in the scene where she goes into the office with blue hair, but I found that I did not laugh very hard during the movie. They say the worst thing you can do as a comedic writer is to write jokes that make people smile, and not laugh. That is precisely what happened in bride wars the jokes made me smile and not laugh. The humor was supposed to come from the women acting crazy and being mean to each other, and a lot of times I just wasn't amused. Some of their more over the top things were funny, like the dance off at the Bachelorette party but most fell short.

Most of my laughter came from the delightfully boisterous group siting sitting in front of me. They saved the viewing experience for me. This was a movie that I would have preferred to see on home whenever it was eventually released to tv, however I would have missed out on some great things.

Like when Kate Hudson's character is presented with a very large and impressive ring, the woman in front of me shouted out a resounding "I'd be like hell yeah nigga." At the other side of the theater was a much more sedate group, so sedate in fact that one of them let out a very loud snore at the climax of the film. The boisterous group in front of me made fun of her, and I enjoyed their cometary on the snoring woman more then I enjoyed any part of the film.

So to the very funny, loud, and awesome group in front of me I thank you.

But back to the actual movie.

I feel that in some ways "Bride Wars" is an interesting comment on society. Specifically how much pressure is put on people to have perfect weddings. In a country where 50% of marriages end in divorce it seems like there is increasing pressure to have a perfect and ornate wedding.

The movie offers us two archetypes of modern day women. Anne Hathaway's character is the doormat, a very nice woman with a very good heart who ends up being pushed around by everyone. For her a wedding partially represents the one day where the focus will be on her, a time where all the love and energy that she has poured into relationships will be rewarded. Although she grows a backbone by the end of the movie Anne Hathaway is so concerned with pleasing others that she wears her mothers wedding dress instead of the one she wants to buy in the hopes it pleases her family.

Kate Hudson's character on the other hand is a high powered bitch, and I mean that in the best way possible. She is still a nice person but she is assertive, she fights for what she wants, and she knows how to look out for herself. To her the wedding is simply an extension of who she is, she is an overachiever so naturally she has the same attitudes in business as she does in planning her own wedding.

In some ways I feel as if this movie wasn't very kind to women. The main characters are neurotic, petty, shallow, and very passive aggressive. However if we view them as caricatures you can't help but see some of the truth in the madness. Many women, myself included, do spend a lot of time dreaming about having a perfect fantasy wedding; this fantasy and this cultural expectation to have large ornate weddings is really a lot of pressure. Enough pressure to make ordinary (please note: most of us aren't nearly this insane) women into bridezillas.

So perhaps at the heart of the movie there was a good message that we should not have so much emphasis placed on one day of our lives when what really matters is love and friendship.

All the same morals, and social commentary aside the movie fell short of my expectations. I really thought I would be laughing more, or that there would be some hilarious moments not shown in the commercials, alas that was not to be.

My final Verdict: Don't pay $10 at your local movie theater to see this. It's worth a rent, especially if you know someone who is about to get married. And please remember this is a real chick flick, it is unlikely that any men will find much enjoyment in this movie.