Bride Wars

We ended up seeing "Bride Wars" because we ended up at the wrong theater (hey, it is a 50/50 shot in the Zenith City) and it was the next movie starting (we had already paid for parking and popcorn by the time we discovered our--okay MY--mistake). It seemed a good proposition given the likeability of the two stars, Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway. Hudson is Liv, an up and coming cut-throat lawyer, and Hathaway is Emma, a most compliant middle school teacher. Since they were little girls they have dreamed of having June weddings at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Then the stars align and both become engaged, at which point they immediately book a joint appointment Marion St. Claire (Candice Bergen), the queen of wedding planners. Then the stars look down and laugh, and suddenly it looks like only one of them is going to get the wedding of her dreams. Or maybe both of them will end up with wedding nightmares.

I would say that the situation in "Bride Wars" is contrived, but having also watched "Swing Vote" this week, it seems a gross injustice to lump the two films together in that particular pile. But the problem here is not with the premise, but rather with its execution. The screenplay by Greg DePaul, Casey Wilson and June Diane Raphael comes up with enough comic elements off of the situation, but the movie never evinces any ambition beyond being something to be played at bachelorette parties for the next couple of years. There should be more of a balance for our sympathies in this movie between Liv and Emma, but there simply is not and even after setting up the idea of an earnest and heartfelt reconciliation between the two best friends, the script says, no, we are going ahead with the two brides wrestling in their wedding gowns because, hey, we already put it in the trailer.

The script also requires the friends and families of these two to get out of the way, and while I might be able to accept this on the part of the pair's few gal pals who appear in the film, I find it impossible to believe with regards to Liv's brother (Bryan Greenberg) and Emma's father (John Pankow). They would both want to attend both weddings and either one of them should have shown up and locked the two women in a room together until they came to their senses. Then again, you know going into this one that it is a chick flick and therefore should not be surprised that the male characters are ultimately inconsequential. Even an appropriately romantic proposal is assurance of nothing in this movie. Finally, when we get to the big lesson at the end you have to be skeptical because it is something these two women should have figured out a long time ago if they really were best friends. But the only thing in the movie that makes you think that they are is the fact the script makes them say the words from time to time, without ever backing it up with heartfelt actions. I do not want a movie to act like it has heart; I want it to actually have one.

"Bride Wars" is certainly true to its title, because it is predominantly about the efforts of these two best friends to sabotage the other one's wedding (or, more specifically, their preparations for that supposedly happiest of days). You would think that if Liv and Emma had been planning their weddings since they were little girls that the end products would be more interesting. But then if realism were any sort of concern here then we would be wondering how poor little Emma can afford a June wedding at the Plaza. Beyond that, it must be said that all of the best scenes in the film are Hathaway's, and she is so good that even with the grossest of manipulations the look in her big eyes and the quaver in her voice will still bring a tear or two to your eyes. Just as there is no question as to which of the two characters is the most sympathetic, neither is that any doubt as to which of these two actresses is going to be the bigger star, despite this middling little misstep.

Both the actresses are enjoyable to watch and the plot could have been great but the script was really poor. The only funny parts in the movie were shown in the trailers and some of those parts were even cut out.
They needed a lot more character development of the supporting rolls. Especially since I really like most of the supporting actors (like Candice Bergen and the gal from 3rd rock) and I was looking forward to seeing them in this flick. We barely see any of the fiancés in the movie, only enough to get that one is supportive and loving and the other is a controlling selfish jerk.
There wasn't nearly enough wedding shopping. Like they only tried on one dress and bought it. I would have liked to see a bunch of dresses. Not to mention both dresses were UGLY.
During the whole movie I really didn't understand what all the fighting was about and it wasn't explained well at all. They both got to have their weddings at the Plaza but in different rooms at the same time. I would of said "no big deal" and chosen another maid of honor, so I don't understand why they made such a fuss.
It's too bad because it would have been great to see a sequel with the way they ended it, and I like seeing these two actresses together. Just bad writing I guess.

I am so far removed from the target audience of this cartoonish, estrogen-heavy 2009 farce that it became a challenge to sit all the way through its blissfully brief 89-minute running time. The by-the-numbers screenplay by Greg DePaul, June Diane Raphael, and former SNL regular Casey Wilson could have been a sharp satire on the excesses of wedding-related commerce or a black comedy about competitiveness among the superficially entitled, either approach of which I would have praised. Sadly, it's neither, and as limply directed by Gary Winick (13 Going on 30), it seems targeted squarely to privileged pre-adolescent girls because the two principals reflect the obsessive, childish mindset of that age. Their emotional immaturity and sitcom-level behavior become draining.

This contemporary parable focuses on childhood best pals Liv and Emma, which of course in this movie's simplistic terms, means they are opposites in every possible way. Liv is the wealthy, über-ambitious lawyer and naturally the less sympathetic one, while Emma is a doormat struggling to make ends meet as a middle-school teacher. To meet the plot's dimensions, it is Liv who has the perfect boyfriend, all understanding and patience, while Emma has a live-in boyfriend who apparently has issues with her budding emancipation. Waiting in the wings is Liv's brother who is made to look so ideal that the screenplay might as well telegraph the resolution. The plot turns on a consultation with Manhattan's leading wedding planner Marion St. Clare, whose administrative assistant erroneously double-booked Liv's and Emma's wedding on the same June day at the Plaza Hotel. The rest of the movie is about how they one-up each other with fraternity-level pranks until the inevitable conclusion.

Kate Hudson (who also co-executive produced) seems to becoming a worse actress with every movie, as she plays almost every scene as Liv with the subtlety of a mime artist. I don't recognize any of the talent she showcased as free-spirit groupie Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous nearly a decade ago. Anne Hathaway comes across marginally better as Emma, but that's like saying the Roadrunner has slightly more credibility than Wile E. Coyote. As Marion, Candice Bergen keeps playing the same role over and over again that I'm starting to wonder if a decade as Murphy Brown was a fluke. Kristen Johnston delivers the film's one truly sardonic note as Emma's fellow teacher-turned-maid of honor. The three men are mere background filler, although Bryan Greenberg (Prime) looks to be making an attempt at a dimensional character. At least cinematographer Frederick Elmes (The Namesake) gives the movie the appropriately polished sheen. The 2009 DVD contains three deleted scenes, all excisable, and an extended commercial for designer Vera Wang, whose wedding gowns are spotlighted in the film.

Maybe I was not the target audience for this movie. Yes I am a young women, I like a good comedy and usually go to see anything Anne Hathaway is in. But that isn't the audience this must have wanted. It wanted the vacuous girl who has decided a wedding is more important then anything else she might enjoy in her life. That graduating college, having a baby (oh could this be the sequel) was the pinnacle of it all.

When there is a mix up with their wedding planner and the weddings are booked on the same day instead of coming up with a solution of a duel ceremony, or even some slight staggering it is better to destroy the other's wedding with not so funny hi jinx. I would tell you the ending but you can guess it unless you have never seen an American film and were hoping for a Hamlet like conclusion.


The reason for the stars I did give it is at least the humor is clean. It at least decided not to resort to bathroom humor in an effort for a few nervous giggles. Anne Hathaway does "act" and can't be all bad in anything she does. Kate Hudson is not as good, but not dreadful. Both would have done better with a script that went for plot rather then the concept of what a stereotypical women wants more then anything.

It was a good movie. I expected more because most of the cute scenes were shown on the ads for the movie. I will probably watch again in a year or so and it may be better then.

When dreams are at stake, even BFFs will go to war. Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Liv (Kate Hudson) have been dreaming about the Perfect Wedding for 20 years and it doesn't matter if they ruin their friendship as long as they get it. I love the two actresses, but that's about it as far as the movie goes. I had one moment of hilarity seeing the two brides duke it out going down the aisle. It's predictable, only mildly amusing, and not the best of its genre.

Rebecca Kyle, May 2009

It's OK. There are some funny moments, but Bride Wars is not a must-go-out-and-buy-it-now DVD. When it comes around on cable, you could watch it while sorting the mail. I wish I could give it more praise, but this uneven comedy is just not worthy. I genuinely looked forward to seeing this film because the premise was quite appealing. It just went nowhere.

Ultimately, it's just a so-so chick flick.

I realize this was supposed to be a humorous take on how people go over-the-top about weddings, and, at least, in the end sanity does prevail. But I simply could not get past the theme that weddings (marriage) are the end-all be-all to a woman's life. All the girls in the movie just wanted to me married - it was their only goal. No matter what else was going on in their lives, no other accomplishments matter because they were still single.

It's an unfortunately true stereotype of a lot of women, and the wedding industry seeks to reinforce it at every turn. And yes, the movie does sort of poke fun at it, but not enough. In the end it wasn't enough to shake the foul taste of 'you must be married to be worthy' out of my mouth (which, yes, is odd, since I am married and have been for 12 years, so I'm a 'complete women' in their eyes...).

In the end it just wasn't funny enough, wasn't zany enough, wasn't original enough to be great. I was just funny enough that I didn't feel like it was a complete waste of my life, so I'd say it's a good 'have on in the background when there's nothing else on TV and you're doing something else' movie.

This is a 100% chick flick. My wife and I alternate movie picks and this unfortunately was her pick. There are many girl friendly films I do end up enjoying, but this was not one of them. This is really a shallow concept that might work great as a half hour sitcom, but stretched out over a full length film it just comes off badly. Two best friends who have always dreamed of having a fantasy wedding get engaged at the same time and by accident have their weddings booked on the same day. Getting mad, they both start sabotaging each others wedding plans. Good actresses and a good concept in theory made me have high hopes for this one. But a sub par formula script that isn't very funny sink this movie.

It is hard to understand how a bland movie that was made for women - ends up insulting women. The vacuous script is full of cat-fights between girlfriends, who have been like sisters. They are absolutely horrid to each other when they find out that their dream location for the marriage (The Plaza Hotel in New York) has only two openings for weddings on the same date.

You wonder why they just don't have a double wedding and save some money - but how they fight over attendees, and dresses, etc. left me incredulous.

The bottom line is best friends become worst enemies just because they chose the same wedding date and the same location.

The plot is weak - and the expensive weddings featured must be promoted by the billion dollar bridal industry.

Both Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson could do much better.