Bridesmaids (2011 film)

Bridesmaids
Theatrical movie poster
Directed by	Paul Feig
Produced by	Judd Apatow Barry Mendel Clayton Townsend
Written by	Annie Mumolo Kristen Wiig
Starring	Kristen Wiig Maya Rudolph Rose Byrne Melissa McCarthy Wendi McLendon-Covey Ellie Kemper Chris O'Dowd Jill Clayburgh
Music by	Michael Andrews
Cinematography	Robert Yeoman
Editing by	William Kerr Mike Sale
Studio	Apatow Productions Relativity Media[1]
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release dates	May 13, 2011 (2011-05-13)
Running time	125 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$32.5 million[2][3]
Box office	$288,383,523[4]

Bridesmaids is a 2011 American romantic comedy film directed by Paul Feig, written by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, and produced by Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel, and Clayton Townsend. 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. Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper, and Wendi McLendon-Covey costar as Annie's fellow bridesmaids, with Chris O'Dowd, Jon Hamm, and Jill Clayburgh (in her last film appearance), playing key supporting roles.^[5]

Actresses Mumolo and Wiig crafted the screenplay after the latter's casting in producer Apatow's comedy film Knocked Up (2007). Budgeted at $32.5 million, filming took place in Los Angeles, California. Upon its opening release in the United States and Canada on May 13, 2011, Bridesmaids was both critically and commercially successful. The film grossed $26 million in its opening weekend, eventually grossing over $288 million worldwide, and surpassed Knocked Up to become the top-grossing Apatow production to date.^[6] It received a 90% overall approval rating according to Rotten Tomatoes and served as a touchstone for discussion about women in comedy.^[7][8][9]

The film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, and received multiple other accolades. On January 24, 2012, the film was nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy and Best Original Screenplay. This made it the first Apatow-produced film to be nominated for an Academy Award.

Plot

Annie Walker (Kristen Wiig) is a single woman in her late 30s. Following the failure of her bakery, she lost her boyfriend and her savings, reducing her career to a sales clerk at a jewelry store and forcing her to share an apartment with an obnoxious roommate and his sister. Her business's failure was so painful that she has given up baking entirely. She has a no-strings-attached sexual relationship with the self-absorbed Ted (Jon Hamm) but hopes for something more from him. Her best friend Lillian Donovan (Maya Rudolph) is virtually her only source of happiness.

Lillian becomes engaged and asks Annie to be her maid of honor. At the engagement party, Annie meets her fellow bridesmaids: Lillian's cynical cousin Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey); idealistic friend Becca (Ellie Kemper); raunchy future sister-in-law Megan (Melissa McCarthy); and Helen Harris III (Rose Byrne), the beautiful but over-the-top wife of Lillian's fiancé's boss. Helen and Annie, who are both jealous of the other's friendship with Lillian, take an instant, strong, dislike to each other, but Lillian persuades them to spend time together.

Annie takes Lillian and the bridesmaids to a Brazilian steak restaurant for lunch before going to a chic bridal shop. However, Helen must use her influence to gain access to the shop when Annie neglects to make a reservation. While trying on gowns, the whole party—with the exception of Helen, who did not eat food at the restaurant—becomes sick from food poisoning, ruining their afternoon. Later, Annie's suggestion of a bachelorette party at Lillian's parents' lake house is overruled in favor of a trip to Las Vegas planned by Helen. Worried about her finances and too proud to accept a ticket paid for by Helen, Annie books a ticket in coach while the rest of the party flies first class. However, the trip is cut short due to an outburst from Annie, who due to her fear of flying had accepted a sedative from Helen. The scene on board the plane forces an emergency landing in Casper, Wyoming, following which the party takes a bus back home. Annie apologizes but Lillian tells Annie she wants Helen to take over planning the shower and wedding, as "she does this sort of thing all the time" and to take some pressure off Annie's shoulders.

Annie continues to hope for a relationship with Ted, but begins flirting with Officer Nathan Rhodes (Chris O'Dowd), a friendly state patrolman who earlier had let her off without a ticket for broken tail lights. Nathan encourages her to open a new bakery, but Annie refuses. Following a night together, the next morning Nathan buys baking supplies with which he suggests Annie make them breakfast. Offended and overwhelmed, Annie leaves. Annie is later fired from her job for calling a rude teenage customer "a little cunt" and—kicked out of her apartment by her odd British roommate and his sister—moves in with her mother.

Annie travels to Chicago for the bridal shower at Helen's home, which has been transformed into a Paris-themed event. Helen then upstages Annie's heartfelt, handmade shower gift by giving Lillian a trip to Paris, an idea Annie expressed earlier, which Helen stole. Enraged that Helen has taken credit for the Parisian theme, Annie throws a temper tantrum. She is kicked out of the shower and the wedding. On her way home, Annie is involved in a car accident, but the other driver flees the scene. Nathan happens to be the attending officer, and he admonishes her for not fixing her tail lights and taking responsibility for her life. He storms off when Ted arrives to give Annie a ride. When he asks her to perform oral sex on him on the way home, she breaks off the relationship and walks home.

Throughout the next several days Annie becomes reclusive, refusing to leave her mother's house and watching television obsessively. After a pep talk from Megan, Annie realizes her errors and tries to make amends with Nathan, but he ignores her. On the day of the wedding, Helen appears at Annie's doorstep distraught; Lillian has disappeared, and Helen begs for Annie's help in finding her. Helen and Annie have a reconciliation of sorts, and Helen apologizes to Annie. The two enlist Nathan to help, and he grudgingly agrees. The group find Lillian at her own apartment, discovering that she ran from her wedding due to Helen's extravagant planning for the wedding and fear of leaving her life in Milwaukee. After reconciling, Annie helps Lillian prepare for her wedding.

Annie resumes her place as maid of honor at the wedding. After the wedding, which Annie agrees with Helen is "perfect," Helen again apologizes to Annie and states her hope that they can be friends in the future. Realizing that Annie and Nathan were falling in love, Helen had also arranged for him to pick Annie up after the wedding. Nathan and Annie reconcile and ride away in his patrol car.

Cast

Top to bottom: Saturday Night Live alumnae Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph star in the film.

Production

Writing

The script, originally titled Maid of Honor, was written by actress and screenwriter Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig.^[10] Friends for years, they met at The Groundlings, a Los Angeles-based improvisational comedy troupe where they wrote sketches with one another, in the early 2000s.^[10] The basic premise for the film originated in 2006, shortly after Wiig was cast in the supporting role of a passive-aggressive cable television executive in producer Judd Apatow's comedy film Knocked Up (2007).^[10] Recognizing her comedic talent, Apatow asked Wiig if she had any ideas for a screenplay herself – a practice which had previously led to Steve Carell's idea for The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005) – and she and Mumolo soon came up with Bridesmaids.^[10] Over the following years, writing commenced, with Wiig working on Saturday Night Live in New York City and Mumolo grinding out the script in Los Angeles.^[11] The two would meet on weekends and conduct semi-regular table reads of drafts for Apatow to get his suggestions and notes.^[10]

Filming

Oxnard, California

Bridesmaids was budgeted at $32.5 million.^[12] Though primarily set in Milwaukee and Chicago, principal photography actually took place in Los Angeles, California.^[13] Production designer Jefferson Sage, who has worked with Apatow and Paul Feig since their Freaks and Geeks days, noted that the first fact that appealed to him about the project "was that you had these two disparate worlds: There was Annie's world in Milwaukee, and then there was Helen's world in Chicago. It immediately drew this dichotomy between the rivalry that developed between them."^[13] However, Sage acknowledged that it was a challenge to find "architecture that would give us those Midwestern worlds. Chicago is a beautiful, distinctive city architecturally, and restricted views of downtown L.A. feel like Chicago."^[13] The production decided to use the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden as the location for Lillian and Dougie's wedding.^[13] Additional scenes where Annie meets Officer Rhodes on the highways between Milwaukee and Chicago were filmed in Oxnard, California, which Sage described as a "broad, flat, green area away from mountains."^[13]

Reception

Critical reception

Bridesmaids received critical acclaim upon its release. The film-critics aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reported 90% of critics gave the film a positive review based on 232 reviews, with an average score of 7.5/10. The critical consensus is: "A marriage of genuine characters, gross out gags, and pathos, Bridesmaids is a female-driven comedy that refuses to be boxed in as Kristen Wiig emerges as a real star".^[14] Metacritic, which assigns a standardized score out of 100, rated the movie 76 based on 37 critics.^[15] Roger Ebert gave the film 3.5 stars of out 4.^[16] Jeff Bayer said that Bridesmaids is "The best female-driven R-rated comedy of all time".^[17]

Ms. magazine noted, to its "enduring surprise", that despite the involvement of Apatow, and "done and done and done" themes, the film passed the Bechdel test of female-driven storylines.^[18]

Critic Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly pointed out the significance of Bridesmaids success as follows: "So far, the message that Hollywood seems to have taken from the incredible success of Bridesmaids is a predictably reductive one, something along the lines of: Hey, look! Raunchy comedies for women with awesome grossout scenes in the middle of them can be big box office too!! The message that Hollywood should be taking is: A comedy that's raunchy and fearless, and also brilliantly written and shrewdly honest about what's really going on in women's lives, may actually connect with the fabled non-teenage audience (remember them?)."^[19]

Melissa McCarthy was nominated for the 2012 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role.^[20][21][22]

Box office

Bridesmaids surpassed Knocked Up to become the top-grossing Judd Apatow production to date,^[23][24] grossing $26,247,410 on its opening weekend and settling for a strong second place behind Thor.^[3][25] Bridesmaids grossed $169,106,725 domestically and $119,276,798 in foreign markets, totalling $288,383,523.^[3] It was reported that males made up 33 percent of the movie's audience and that 63 percent of the audience was over the age of 30.^[25][26]

Accolades

Home media

Bridesmaids was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc in theatrical (125 minutes) and unrated (131 minutes) versions on September 20, 2011. The DVD includes an audio commentary by director Paul Feig, co-writer Annie Mumolo, and cast members Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, and Ellie Kemper, as well as deleted, extended, and alternate scenes, a gag reel, Line-O-Rama (a typical Apatow-release extra), and a "commercial" from Annie's jewelry employer. The Blu-ray Disc features the same DVD content with additional deleted and extended scenes, a Made of Honor: Behind the Scenes of Bridesmaids featurette, a full song performance of Wilson Phillips' "Hold On", and a digital copy. iTunes Extras include Line-O-Rama, Deleted Scenes, Extended & Alternate Scenes & Cholodecki's Commercial.^[42] Another edition commemorating the 100th anniversary of Universal Studios was released on September 4, 2012.

Potential sequel

In January 2012, industry sources reported that Universal was interested in developing a sequel to Bridesmaids. When discussing the potential of a Bridesmaids 2, producer Judd Apatow was quoted as saying, "The key is we have to come up with an idea that is as good or better than the first one." ^[43] In an interview with Vanity Fair, director Paul Feig addressed rumors of a sequel, saying "Everyone's very busy right now is one of the problems, and kind of doing their own thing, but we're very open to it."^[44] However, when questioned about her potential involvement, Kristin Wiig told The Hollywood Reporter, "We aren't working on that. Annie [Mumolo] and I aren't planning a sequel. We are writing something else."^[43] Following Wiig's statement, reports surfaced that Universal was interested in proceeding without her, instead focusing on developing a story around Melissa McCarthy's character. McCarthy dispelled the rumors that she would consider returning for a sequel without Wiig, telling E! Online, "God, I wouldn't want to. I would never want to. I think it's a terrible idea. I don't know anything about it. But I know that nobody wants to do it unless it's great. If it is, I will show up wherever those ladies are."^[45]

References

External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bridesmaids (2011 film)

• Official website
• Bridesmaids at the Internet Movie Database
• Bridesmaids at allmovie
• Bridesmaids at Box Office Mojo
• Bridesmaids at Rotten Tomatoes
• Bridesmaids at Metacritic
• Bridesmaids at The Numbers