Bridesmaids (2011)
December 31, 2019 3:14 PM - Subscribe
2011 American comedy film directed by Paul Feig, written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, and produced by Judd Apatow. The plot centers on Annie (Wiig), who suffers a series of misfortunes after being asked to serve as maid of honor for her best friend, Lillian, played by Maya Rudolph.
HBO has this. Thank you for the prompt to re-watch. It holds up. :-)
posted by FallibleHuman at 1:12 PM on January 1, 2020
posted by FallibleHuman at 1:12 PM on January 1, 2020
So, it took us three times to see this movie. The first time we went, it was sold out (this was an afternoon showing after it had been out a while). The second time, the building was evacuated for a fire when we were about 10 minutes in.
After all that, I'd say: it was okay.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:56 PM on January 1, 2020
After all that, I'd say: it was okay.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:56 PM on January 1, 2020
Kristin Wiig should have won an Oscar for this scene alone, especially her reading of "Are you fUCKING kidding me?"
posted by Rock Steady at 8:55 AM on January 2, 2020 [8 favorites]
posted by Rock Steady at 8:55 AM on January 2, 2020 [8 favorites]
I love this movie. It's rare for me to see things more than once, but I bought a thrift shop copy of this one so I could see it as often as I wanted. It has such an amazing cast. Even the very incidental characters, such as the 13-year-old girl in the jewelry store, are fantastic.
I find most romantic comedies have a bad effect on me, because everything always magically works out for the heroine in the end the way it never has and never will for me. This one always makes me feel better. Annie is down romantically, work-wise, and financially, and the one thing she can count on is her stable relationship with her longtime best friend, Lillian... and then Helen tries to undermine that at every opportunity so she can be Lillian's best friend (no wonder Helen has no friends). Annie doesn't handle that or anything else well and screws things up even more... and then realizes she has to pull herself together and start doing what she needs to do to improve her life, and to appreciate what she does have, such as her addled but loving mother. She does wind up dating Rhodes again, but even if he hadn't been willing to patch things up with her, it would still have been a happy ending, with Annie accepting it and moving on.
It sometimes makes me laugh to think of the actor who played Lillian's intended telling friends and family about his current role back in the day. When they asked what he was doing at the moment, he might have said, "Oh, I'm playing the groom in a movie called 'Bridesmaids'," and they'd maybe say, "Oh that sounds like a great role, to be the groom in a movie about a wedding," and then he'd have to say, "I don't have a single line."
Lillian: It's happening! It... happened. [squats in the middle of the street in a bridal gown]
Brynn's justification for reading Annie's journal had me laughing inordinately everytime I thought of it for days:
Annie: You read my diary?
Brynn: At first I did not know it was your diary, I thought it was a very sad handwritten book.
posted by orange swan at 10:19 AM on January 2, 2020 [12 favorites]
I find most romantic comedies have a bad effect on me, because everything always magically works out for the heroine in the end the way it never has and never will for me. This one always makes me feel better. Annie is down romantically, work-wise, and financially, and the one thing she can count on is her stable relationship with her longtime best friend, Lillian... and then Helen tries to undermine that at every opportunity so she can be Lillian's best friend (no wonder Helen has no friends). Annie doesn't handle that or anything else well and screws things up even more... and then realizes she has to pull herself together and start doing what she needs to do to improve her life, and to appreciate what she does have, such as her addled but loving mother. She does wind up dating Rhodes again, but even if he hadn't been willing to patch things up with her, it would still have been a happy ending, with Annie accepting it and moving on.
It sometimes makes me laugh to think of the actor who played Lillian's intended telling friends and family about his current role back in the day. When they asked what he was doing at the moment, he might have said, "Oh, I'm playing the groom in a movie called 'Bridesmaids'," and they'd maybe say, "Oh that sounds like a great role, to be the groom in a movie about a wedding," and then he'd have to say, "I don't have a single line."
Lillian: It's happening! It... happened. [squats in the middle of the street in a bridal gown]
Brynn's justification for reading Annie's journal had me laughing inordinately everytime I thought of it for days:
Annie: You read my diary?
Brynn: At first I did not know it was your diary, I thought it was a very sad handwritten book.
posted by orange swan at 10:19 AM on January 2, 2020 [12 favorites]
It sometimes makes me laugh to think of the actor who played Lillian's intended telling friends and family about his current role back in the day.
That's Tim Heidecker, if memory serves. I assume his character must have had a scene or two that got filmed but ended on the cutting room floor, or else why would Apatow and co. have cast him in such a nothing part?
This movie is endlessly re-watchable. I own a copy and it's great comfort food whenever I need to take a sick day from work. (Tina Fey's Baby Mama also works well in this regard.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:56 AM on January 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
That's Tim Heidecker, if memory serves. I assume his character must have had a scene or two that got filmed but ended on the cutting room floor, or else why would Apatow and co. have cast him in such a nothing part?
This movie is endlessly re-watchable. I own a copy and it's great comfort food whenever I need to take a sick day from work. (Tina Fey's Baby Mama also works well in this regard.)
posted by Atom Eyes at 11:56 AM on January 2, 2020 [2 favorites]
I’ve always thought Tim Heidecker’s lack of screen time and any lines whatsoever was part of the joke. It’s one of my favorite things about the movie.
posted by something something at 8:29 AM on January 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by something something at 8:29 AM on January 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Oh yes, it's a proudly and unapologetically woman-centric movie. I doubt there are too many movies out there about a wedding in which the groom is such a complete nonentity.
posted by orange swan at 12:15 PM on January 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by orange swan at 12:15 PM on January 5, 2020 [2 favorites]
Maybe I need to do a re-watch, but I remember being profoundly disappointed the first time I saw this -- mostly because it seemed really mean-spirited.
posted by DrAstroZoom at 8:06 AM on January 6, 2020
posted by DrAstroZoom at 8:06 AM on January 6, 2020
Another thing I really liked about this movie was its economic realism. It's rare to see a movie in which the characters actually have the standard of living that they would have in real life, given their jobs. Annie works a minimum wage job (until she gets fired), and she lives in an ordinary apartment, has roommates, drives a car that barely works, wears clothes that look like they come from Target, has hair and makeup that looks as though she does them herself, and we don't see her spending any significant amount of money on any inessentials other than for the wedding, and those she's railroaded into by Helen.
It does always piss me off to see how completely unthinking and insensitive the other bridesmaids are about how much hardship it will cause Annie to have to pay for a designer bridal gown and a bachelorette trip to Vegas. She's the only poor bridesmaid, and she'll have had to run up several thousands of dollars of credit card debt that it will take her ages, and cost her a lot in interest, to pay off. And no one seems to realize this, and simply expect her to go along with their expensive choices. Yes, Annie's too proud to tell them that she can't afford it, but they should have realized given the type of jobs that she works and from her lifestyle that she doesn't have much money.
posted by orange swan at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
It does always piss me off to see how completely unthinking and insensitive the other bridesmaids are about how much hardship it will cause Annie to have to pay for a designer bridal gown and a bachelorette trip to Vegas. She's the only poor bridesmaid, and she'll have had to run up several thousands of dollars of credit card debt that it will take her ages, and cost her a lot in interest, to pay off. And no one seems to realize this, and simply expect her to go along with their expensive choices. Yes, Annie's too proud to tell them that she can't afford it, but they should have realized given the type of jobs that she works and from her lifestyle that she doesn't have much money.
posted by orange swan at 11:58 AM on January 6, 2020 [7 favorites]
The scene where Rhodes gets out all his baking supplies as a surprise for Annie and she doesn't know how to take it and basically just runs out his front door always strikes a chord in me. She was so used to Ted using her for sex (and grossly one-sided sex at that) that the idea of a guy wanting her to spend time with him doing something *she* would enjoy (although Rhodes planned to eat whatever she baked, so he was not totally selfless:D) blindsided her.
I remember once that a guy I was planning to meet for the first time off a dating system had to call and reschedule our first date for the next night because there was some sort of conflict with an out of town work trip. I had no problem with this whatsoever -- he had no control over the work commitment and he had handled matters perfectly by calling me and rescheduling as soon as he knew, so that I had a few days' notice and could make other plans for the evening. Then we had that first date, and at the end of the date he presented me with a beautiful bouquet of white lilies he had brought along in the back seat of his car, as a token of apology for having had to cancel the previous night.
That was 15 years ago, and I still remember what an effort of self-control it took on my part to respond appropriately. I have a long history of guys standing me up and disappearing on me with no compunction whatsoever, and I had never been given flowers before that (nor since for that matter), so this thoughtful, generous, gentlemanly gesture was so out of the blue that it left me speechless for a moment before I even could thank him politely, and then I had to transmute the impulse to jump him into an accompanying casual hug of thanks.
One can get so used to being treated like crap that being treated well can be a shock to the system.
posted by orange swan at 5:49 PM on January 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
I remember once that a guy I was planning to meet for the first time off a dating system had to call and reschedule our first date for the next night because there was some sort of conflict with an out of town work trip. I had no problem with this whatsoever -- he had no control over the work commitment and he had handled matters perfectly by calling me and rescheduling as soon as he knew, so that I had a few days' notice and could make other plans for the evening. Then we had that first date, and at the end of the date he presented me with a beautiful bouquet of white lilies he had brought along in the back seat of his car, as a token of apology for having had to cancel the previous night.
That was 15 years ago, and I still remember what an effort of self-control it took on my part to respond appropriately. I have a long history of guys standing me up and disappearing on me with no compunction whatsoever, and I had never been given flowers before that (nor since for that matter), so this thoughtful, generous, gentlemanly gesture was so out of the blue that it left me speechless for a moment before I even could thank him politely, and then I had to transmute the impulse to jump him into an accompanying casual hug of thanks.
One can get so used to being treated like crap that being treated well can be a shock to the system.
posted by orange swan at 5:49 PM on January 7, 2020 [4 favorites]
Rock Steady, I had forgotten that scene. The way her meltdown escalates is (french kiss)
posted by bjrubble at 1:57 PM on January 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by bjrubble at 1:57 PM on January 9, 2020 [1 favorite]
I re-watched Bridesmaids the other night because all this thinking about it and commenting on it made me miss it. This movie is chock-full of great, funny, and quotable moments and performances.
-- Kristen Wiig's impersonation of a penis is not to be missed.
-- Helen's stepson and daughter both despise her and act as a Greek chorus, commenting with sardonic enjoyment on whatever they witness. ("I've seen better tennis in a tampon commercial.")
-- Helen's nouveau riche-ness is so ludicrously over the top. That gown she wears to the engagement party! She calls herself Helen Harris III, for crying out loud. Not only is that wildly incorrect as to form, but how can she even be the third Helen Harris, given that Harris is probably her husband's surname? There's a brass plate on the pillar by the opening gate of her husband's estate that says "The Harris Estate est. 2006" -- so absurdly pretentious. It's no surprise that she has no friends other than the kind of people who try to use her for her (admittedly considerable) executive ability. Both the moneyed crowd she's probably trying to move in and people of ordinary levels of income are going to be put off by such gaucheness, let alone her constant passive aggressive manipulation.
-- Lillian's horrendous bridal gown, and Annie and her cackling over it together was awesome.
-- It's my understanding that Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are close friends in real life, which I thought contributed to their onscreen relationship. They had no trouble coming across as lifelong best friends with a deep bond that remains undamaged by any surface friction.
-- Jill Clayburgh was wonderful. Sadly, this was the last movie she ever made, as she died shortly after it was filmed.
-- Megan McCarthy effortlessly steals every scene she's in. All the bridesmaids were so good though. There wasn't a nonentity in the lot.
-- Megan with U.S. Air Marshall John (played by Megan McCarthy's real life husband!) is an awesome subplot. It's hilarious that she starts telling him that she knows he's an air marshall and though probably no first-time viewer ever thought it was anything but nonsense, Megan's right and he is in fact an air marshall. Everyone saw the video tape bit in the closing credits, right?
-- Jon Hamm is so all-in on Ted's swinishness.
-- Chris O'Dowd is adorable.
-- The anxious woman on the plane is Annie Mumolo, who co-wrote the movie with Kristen Wiig.
-- I hope Annie takes over Lillian's apartment.
Lillian really should have put her foot down and not let Helen run the wedding costs up so high. She would have known perfectly well that Annie was in no position to field such expenses, and it was causing stress and hardship for her father as well. So... this wasn't all on Annie.
Fitness instructor: Hey! If you want to take this class you're going to have to pay for it, like the rest of these bitches!
Whitney [13-year-old girl in jewelry store]: You're weird.
Annie: I'm not weird. OK?
Whitney: Yes, you are.
Annie: No, I'm not! And you started it.
Whitney: No, you started it! Did you forget to take your Xanax this morning?
Annie: Oh, I feel bad for your parents.
Whitney: I feel bad for your face.
Annie: Okay, well, call me when your boobs come in.
Whitney: You call me when yours come in.
Annie: What do you have, four boyfriends?
Whitney: Exactly.
Annie: Okay, yeah, have fun having a baby at your prom.
Whitney: You look like an old mop.
Annie: You know, you’re not as popular as you think you are.
Whitney: I am very popular.
Annie: [miming fellatio] Oh, I’m sure you are very popular.
Whitney: Well, you’re an old, single loser who’s never going to have any friends.
Annie: YOU'RE A LITTLE CUNT!
Brynn: I got a free tattoo. I could not believe it. The guy said, "Do you want a tattoo?," opened up the side of his van and said, "It’s for free!" So I said, "Sure." It’s a Mexican drinking worm. It's like a Native American symbol meaning wasted.
Rita: I cracked a blanket in half. Do you get where I’m going with that? I cracked it, in HALF.
According to Google translate, when Annie is speaking Spanish during her speech at the engagement party, she is saying, "Thank you for to live in the house, in the schools, in the blue [market]. You have with [to drink] in the fochtwatsa." ("Fochtwatsa" isn't a word in Spanish -- it seems to be either a butchered word in Spanish or another language, or a made-up word.)
Lillian: I just took a shit in the middle of the street. I just shit --
Annie: People do that.
Woman on plane: I had a dream last night, that we went down. Yep. It was terrible.
Annie: Oh God.
Woman on plane: You were in it.
Becca: [very drunkenly] You're more beautiful than Cinderella! You smell like pine needles and your face is like sunshine!
Annie: I have an announcement to make. There is a colonial woman on the wing. There's a woman on the wing. I saw her! There's something they're not telling us! There is a colonial woman. She was churning butter. She is out there right now! There is something they're not telling us! There is a woman on the wing. I saw her! There is something they're not telling us! She is dressed in traditional colonial garb -- [flight attendant wrestles microphone away from her].
"George. George... Glass."
Annie: What woman gives another woman a trip to Paris? Am I right? Lesbian! We’re all thinking it, aren't we?
Becca: I'm not.
Megan: I was.
"Why can't you be happy for me and then go home and talk about me behind my back like a normal person?"
Annie: You would know that if you got your beautiful haired head out of your asshole. In fact, out of her asshole, which I am sure is perfectly bleached.
Helen: You know what? It is. And do you know how I know that? Because I went to the fucking salon with her, and I got my asshole bleached too. And do you know what? I LOVE MY NEW ASSHOLE!!!!
posted by orange swan at 11:55 AM on January 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
-- Kristen Wiig's impersonation of a penis is not to be missed.
-- Helen's stepson and daughter both despise her and act as a Greek chorus, commenting with sardonic enjoyment on whatever they witness. ("I've seen better tennis in a tampon commercial.")
-- Helen's nouveau riche-ness is so ludicrously over the top. That gown she wears to the engagement party! She calls herself Helen Harris III, for crying out loud. Not only is that wildly incorrect as to form, but how can she even be the third Helen Harris, given that Harris is probably her husband's surname? There's a brass plate on the pillar by the opening gate of her husband's estate that says "The Harris Estate est. 2006" -- so absurdly pretentious. It's no surprise that she has no friends other than the kind of people who try to use her for her (admittedly considerable) executive ability. Both the moneyed crowd she's probably trying to move in and people of ordinary levels of income are going to be put off by such gaucheness, let alone her constant passive aggressive manipulation.
-- Lillian's horrendous bridal gown, and Annie and her cackling over it together was awesome.
-- It's my understanding that Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph are close friends in real life, which I thought contributed to their onscreen relationship. They had no trouble coming across as lifelong best friends with a deep bond that remains undamaged by any surface friction.
-- Jill Clayburgh was wonderful. Sadly, this was the last movie she ever made, as she died shortly after it was filmed.
-- Megan McCarthy effortlessly steals every scene she's in. All the bridesmaids were so good though. There wasn't a nonentity in the lot.
-- Megan with U.S. Air Marshall John (played by Megan McCarthy's real life husband!) is an awesome subplot. It's hilarious that she starts telling him that she knows he's an air marshall and though probably no first-time viewer ever thought it was anything but nonsense, Megan's right and he is in fact an air marshall. Everyone saw the video tape bit in the closing credits, right?
-- Jon Hamm is so all-in on Ted's swinishness.
-- Chris O'Dowd is adorable.
-- The anxious woman on the plane is Annie Mumolo, who co-wrote the movie with Kristen Wiig.
-- I hope Annie takes over Lillian's apartment.
Lillian really should have put her foot down and not let Helen run the wedding costs up so high. She would have known perfectly well that Annie was in no position to field such expenses, and it was causing stress and hardship for her father as well. So... this wasn't all on Annie.
Fitness instructor: Hey! If you want to take this class you're going to have to pay for it, like the rest of these bitches!
Whitney [13-year-old girl in jewelry store]: You're weird.
Annie: I'm not weird. OK?
Whitney: Yes, you are.
Annie: No, I'm not! And you started it.
Whitney: No, you started it! Did you forget to take your Xanax this morning?
Annie: Oh, I feel bad for your parents.
Whitney: I feel bad for your face.
Annie: Okay, well, call me when your boobs come in.
Whitney: You call me when yours come in.
Annie: What do you have, four boyfriends?
Whitney: Exactly.
Annie: Okay, yeah, have fun having a baby at your prom.
Whitney: You look like an old mop.
Annie: You know, you’re not as popular as you think you are.
Whitney: I am very popular.
Annie: [miming fellatio] Oh, I’m sure you are very popular.
Whitney: Well, you’re an old, single loser who’s never going to have any friends.
Annie: YOU'RE A LITTLE CUNT!
Brynn: I got a free tattoo. I could not believe it. The guy said, "Do you want a tattoo?," opened up the side of his van and said, "It’s for free!" So I said, "Sure." It’s a Mexican drinking worm. It's like a Native American symbol meaning wasted.
Rita: I cracked a blanket in half. Do you get where I’m going with that? I cracked it, in HALF.
According to Google translate, when Annie is speaking Spanish during her speech at the engagement party, she is saying, "Thank you for to live in the house, in the schools, in the blue [market]. You have with [to drink] in the fochtwatsa." ("Fochtwatsa" isn't a word in Spanish -- it seems to be either a butchered word in Spanish or another language, or a made-up word.)
Lillian: I just took a shit in the middle of the street. I just shit --
Annie: People do that.
Woman on plane: I had a dream last night, that we went down. Yep. It was terrible.
Annie: Oh God.
Woman on plane: You were in it.
Becca: [very drunkenly] You're more beautiful than Cinderella! You smell like pine needles and your face is like sunshine!
Annie: I have an announcement to make. There is a colonial woman on the wing. There's a woman on the wing. I saw her! There's something they're not telling us! There is a colonial woman. She was churning butter. She is out there right now! There is something they're not telling us! There is a woman on the wing. I saw her! There is something they're not telling us! She is dressed in traditional colonial garb -- [flight attendant wrestles microphone away from her].
"George. George... Glass."
Annie: What woman gives another woman a trip to Paris? Am I right? Lesbian! We’re all thinking it, aren't we?
Becca: I'm not.
Megan: I was.
"Why can't you be happy for me and then go home and talk about me behind my back like a normal person?"
Annie: You would know that if you got your beautiful haired head out of your asshole. In fact, out of her asshole, which I am sure is perfectly bleached.
Helen: You know what? It is. And do you know how I know that? Because I went to the fucking salon with her, and I got my asshole bleached too. And do you know what? I LOVE MY NEW ASSHOLE!!!!
posted by orange swan at 11:55 AM on January 13, 2020 [3 favorites]
Oops, last exchange there should have been between Annie and Lillian, not Annie and Helen.
There are some deleted scenes on YouTube that I saw for the first time today:
Annie goes on a blind date with Dave (Paul Rudd).
Deleted scene from Annie and Helen's engagement party speech competition, #1.
Deleted scene from Annie and Helen's engagement party speech competition, #2.
posted by orange swan at 12:24 PM on January 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
There are some deleted scenes on YouTube that I saw for the first time today:
Annie goes on a blind date with Dave (Paul Rudd).
Deleted scene from Annie and Helen's engagement party speech competition, #1.
Deleted scene from Annie and Helen's engagement party speech competition, #2.
posted by orange swan at 12:24 PM on January 13, 2020 [2 favorites]
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posted by ActingTheGoat at 9:08 PM on December 31, 2019 [3 favorites]