Bachelorette

The Bachelorette (2012)

Wow. Basically horrible, sexist, weightist (if that's a word), and badly written. And badly edited. And routinely filmed and directed. It even has some good talent (Kirsten Dunst is the big name) and a decent basic if familiar idea--a girl gets engaged and her friends all go to the wedding where things go wrong and lots of old skeletons come out of the closet.

The humor is purposely trashy party humor. This is where a certain audience might have fun with it. It didn't work at all, most of the time. (There are partial exceptions, like the early scene on the plane where the woman tells a stranger man next to her the nuances of giving a blow job.)

So, what is the point of all this? It's mostly just young people incredibly mindlessly liberated, with lots of fun sex and drugs, and lots of old baggage and new lovers popping up and crossing paths. The scenes are lively, the music lively, the jokes, well, lively (which is not always funny, though there are some laughs).

The director and writer is Leslye Headland, and yes, she has to take almost all the blame, though the producers must have seen something, maybe a pretty face, that blinded them to the reality. But then, this is her first film on both scores (she was a stunt driver in one other movie prior), so we have even more questions marks--why her, why her?

Mostly this is horrible. And stupid. And horrible! There, I got it out. Squandered a good hour plus.

Three messed up high school friends Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzy Caplan), and Katie (Isla Fisher) get together to be bridesmaid to their fat friend Becky (Rebel Wilson)'s wedding. However, a crazy night before the wedding leaves them scrambling to fix the wedding dress.

This movie starts off badly. The three girls are way too mean, and we don't get any sense why they're friends with Becky. Then the funniest actress in the bunch is sidelined to be the sweet character. It's a waste of Rebel Wilson. All the jokes just fall flat. As the movie progress, we get a sense of the girls' history and friendship. It improves the likability of the girls, and allows the jokes to hit better.

This is Leslye Headland's directorial debut based on her play. Maybe if she had put in scenes in the beginning showing the four girls' friendship. Maybe a flashback to their high school days would help. The movie definitely needs to show that they were real friends in the old days. Or else it's just three mean girls making fun of the fat girl from high school.

When I saw the cast of this movie, I couldn't believe I had never heard of it before, but now that I've seen it, I know why no one talks about it. I can watch almost any movie and have a good time. But this movie was a hard watch, not only because it wasn't funny but because all the characters are unlikeable jerks. And when the credits started to roll, I asked myself, was that it? Where is the character development? Don't get me wrong. I think the cast are all great actors in other films, Kirsten Dunst (Spiderman Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Isla Fisher (Hot Rod), Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield), Rebel Wilson (Pitch Perfect), & Adam Scott (Parks and Rec.) But in this movie, the main three characters are all super mean to Rebel Wilson's character, and they are all shallow, self-centered losers who have no character arc. Also, it's really weird to hear Rebel Wilson try and speak with an American accent. But it isn't as bad as how they fat-shame her the entire movie. I mean poor Rebel :( It wasn't the worst movie in the world. Isla Fisher and Rebel had a few funny moments and did the best with what they had to work with. I wanted to like this movie but there just isn't enough substance for me to get over the fact that the characters are awful people.

***It's too bad that this movie came out in the same year as "Bridesmaids." That coincidence contributes to shallow thinkers erroneously setting these two films against each other. Both share a basic scenario: a bridal party in the days before a wedding. Aside from that, they are completely different movies.

Pick two "Civil War" films. "Gone with the Wind" and "Gettysburg." There's room in the world for both.

"Bridesmaids" was a hilarious film.***

So now... THIS movie, called "Bachelorette."

This is a dark, edgy, uncomfortable comedy. The characters are realistically flawed. They do ugly things and treat each other badly. They also obviously care for each other and make some astute observations about life. There are too many weirdly, subversively funny moments to list.

If you watch it expecting a light, breezy "chick flick" you will be disappointed. If you watch it expecting a gritty, grimly hilarious portrait of three very human women trying to overcome their own flaws and self-inflicted disasters, you'll have a damn good time.

Notes: 1) Kirsten Dunst is awesome playing a tightly-wound, abrasive control freak. I love the hard edge she has here. And the way her face betrays the fact she's always on the verge of coming apart at the seams.

2) Lizzy Caplan. FINALLY in a movie and role worthy of her comedic talents.

3) Rebel Wilson. Naturally hilarious. Too bad her role necessitates under-utilizing her gifts.

4) James Marsden. I've only ever seen him in good-guy roles (at which he is excellent). It's a confirmation of his skill that he's equally great at playing a sleazeball manipulator.

5) June Diane Raphael. The uniquely nutty, endlessly comical Raphael's cameo in the bathroom with Lizzy Caplan is easily the funniest scene in the movie.

Becky (Rebel Wilson) summons her high-school slut friends Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzy Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher) to be bridesmaids of her wedding with the handsome Dale (Hayes MacArthur). The trio spends one crazy night of drugs, booze, sex and confusions in New Yorkr trying to fix the wedding dress of Becky that they have torn .

"Bachelorette" is an unfunny and moronic comedy with unpleasant characters, gross jokes and stupid situations. The three friends are drugged, alcoholic, envious and promiscuous women. My vote is two.

Title (Brazil): "Quatro Amigas e um Casamento" ("Four Friends and One Wedding")