Riding high from predecessor films such as
Bridesmaids and
The Hangover, Bachelorette has the sort of unabashed, witty, humor that has made this specific subgenre so popular. In the movie you have 3 best friends (each one representing a specific high school stereotype) who all reunite for their best friend's wedding. You have Regan (Kirsten Dunst), the super assertive, maid of honor and wedding planner, who is in turmoil over not being the first of the friends to wed. Gena (Lizzy Kaplan), the drug addled, hot mess, who must comes to terms with her past when she sees her ex-boyfriend Adam Scott (who I love.) Katie (Isla Fisher), the super perky, bubbly, hopped up, ginger whose main goal in the film is to stay sober for more than a minute and not get herself killed. And then there is the bride, Becky, (played by the hilarious Rebel Wilson) who deals with her own emotional issues before the big day. The night before the wedding, chaos ensues when the three bridesmaids get wasted on booze and take some specially prepared coke from Gena. In their dazed stupor they decided to mess with Becky's wedding dress, completely ripping it from the side. In compete hysteria, the girls race around to find the means to fix it. However, not before dealing with some of their own personal issues, too. It's a race against the clock to get the dressed fixed, washed, and back before Becky realizes what's going on.
Off the bat, I was immediately drawn to the characters. To me their interactions felt very authentic and each one had their own little quirk that made them stand out. Granted, Isla Fisher, is sort of playing the same ditzy character she did in
The Wedding Crasher, but she is just so good at it that you don't even mind. Lizzy Caplan's humor is, as usual, on point. However, she really held her own when it came to the more dramatic scenes. In fact, I was really surprised by how heavy her storyline got with Adam Scott (which I think sort of separates
Bachelorette from
The Hangover, more or less, and veers straight into
Bridesmaids territory.) The good thing is the dramatic moments didn't feel crow barred or forced. Even Dunst does great when paired up with comedic actresses like Fisher, Kaplan, and Wilson. Her Tour-de-Force of "No, bullshit" completely moved this film along for me and ended in a way that I felt was appropriate for this kind of story. The movie is not long, and I appreciated the fact that they didn't stretch it out and fill it with silly, unrealistic adventures to reach their goal.
You will see a lot of recognizable faces in this film. You have James Marsden, Andrew Rannells (
Book of Mormon), Kyler Bornheimer, and Hayes MacArthuhur. Rebel Wilson fans don't expect to see a lot of her. She makes an appearance in the first and last 20 minutes of the movie. I loved that the film had Rebel being the one getting married to the rich, handsome guy. Sure, the film has her doubting her self worth and wondering if she's good enough, but the film ends on a very positive note.
I love this cast. I love this sort of comedy. Even the parts that I thought were a tad cheesy didn't bother me at all. This is a fun film to watch in a mixed group of men and women (I'm sure it will spur some interesting discussion topics.)
Was it perfect? No. But it did surpass my expectations. B+
it was good indeed. i think, to your point about fisher, she does a good job with playing ditzy characters that have a very interesting center to them. i think this was the best character i've seenher play. i just wish it was fleshed out more.
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