Bridesmaids revisited

After succumbing to all the hype I finally watched Bridesmaids the other night and was unfortunately disappointed. Part of the problem was the fact that it had been hyped so much, from comments like “funniest film of the year” to “the female Hangover”. For funniest film of the year, it might be, but only because I can’t think of any other comedies that are jumping out at me as being massively funny this year. As for it being a female version of The Hangover, which I’m a big fan of, I felt it fell short.

Not to say that I disliked it. The first act was pretty funny and a good scene setter, and the second act was hilarious – the scene on the plane was side-splittingly entertaining. However, the third act was disappointing and not funny enough to pay off a lot of good set up. The sing-a-long was also pretty misjudged.

Kristen Wiig is a strong female comic and made for a good lead, and Chris O’Dowd continues to break Hollywood as her charming love interest, but the film is less about her relationship with him and more about her “Bra-mance” with her best friend. It was a nice idea to shift the bromance concept that is permeating cinema at the moment onto women, and there were some really good comic moments, but I just felt that it could have been more.

There are some great supporting turns from Rose Byrne (who is proving to be incredibly versatile), Jon Hamm (playing a super-sleazed up caricature of his role on Mad Men) and Matt Lucas. The main comedy props go to Melissa McCarthy though, who completely steals the film from everyone else. By the end of the film you wanted to have seen much more of her character.

There are a couple of other characters who are woefully underused – Ellie Kemper from The US Office and Wendi McLendon-Covey from Reno 911 –just when they are beginning to develop on the plane ride to Vegas they end up disappearing for practically the rest of the film.  Which is a real shame as if there had been more focus on the Bridesmaids as a group in the third act and less on the lead character’s spiral into depression, the whole film would have been a lot funnier and would have remained consistent with the marvellous second act.

Overall, it’s good but it could have been better. I think my perception of it was skewed somewhat negatively by all the hype, but then it’s been one of the most successful comedies ever, so what do I know. 

So I guess I’m the schmuck

For my sins I watched “Dinner with Schmucks” the other night. I like Paul Rudd and I like Steve Carell so I thought it would be a safe bet that I’d enjoy this.

Boy, was I wrong.

A woefully misjudged, nasty, and all round unfunny attempt at a comedy. Interestingly enough, the best things about it were Lucy Punch, who I was cracking up in my “Bad Teacher” review – turns out she is both still hot and still funny as a blonde, it wasn’t just the red hair; and Chris O’Dowd, who seems to be breaking Hollywood with a vengeance. Good to see the Brits still representing.

But ultimately, too long, not funny and pretty uncomfortable (and not in a good way). Avoid.

Getting Sourcey

Movie double the other night, consisting of the wholly brilliant Source Code and the wholly not great Gulliver’s Travels.

Source Code is high concept science fiction (which I’m a fan of, in case I haven’t mentioned it before) and is a thoroughly entertaining watch. Jake Gyllenhaal gives his best performance since Donnie Darko and Vera Farmiga is excellent providing the moral heart of the film. 

The intriguing story sets up two separate but equally compelling mysteries at the same time: who’s responsible for the attack on the train, and what’s really going on with Jake Gyllenhaal’s character back in the present. The whole thing plays out like a incredibly dark episode of Quantum Leap (yet somehow it still works). I won’t spoil the plot any more than I already have, but needless to say it’s definitely worth a watch.

It’s Duncan Jones’ second film, following on from the outstanding Moon (it’s a crime that more people haven’t seen that film). If he continues on in this vein then you can expect big things from Bowie Jnr in the future, as long as he avoids remaking Labyrinth with his dad.

Then there was Gulliver’s Travels which wasn’t very good, except for the always entertaining Jason Segal (with an unfortunate British accent) and a stand-out performance from Chris O’Dowd, of IT Crowd fame. Considering he’s mostly sharing the screen with Billy Connolly and Jack Black, it’s a testament to his comic timing that he steals every scene he’s in. No wonder he’s making waves in Hollywood now.