Bridesmaids

[TheDude]

Loved the first 15 minutes of this film, twice over! Cineworld, Crawley had two fire scares before finally shutting it's doors for the night, due to suspected faulty electrics.
The audience took a while to vacate the screening as they were loving the film so much, that they just didn't want to leave.

Hope you asked for some vouchers if you didn't get to see it properly!

[ejwrank]

I won a single ticket to see this tonight at The Soho Hotel thanks to a competition listed by prettyxcool--so thanks pxc and sorry I had only one ticket.

We had delicious food and unlimited wine before the film. I was surrounded by lots of young women (brides to be and bridesmaids to be, I guess) as it was sponsored by london-bride.com, so whilst they were all being very dainty with single helpings, I had two helpings (not too massive so as not to give the game away). Then there was delicious fresh fruit for dessert which was really tasty. A great way to begin a free film!

I was disappointed by the film as I'd heard so many rave reviews. Now I know I am NOT the target audience for this film by a long shot, but I didn't find it nearly as funny as The Hangover (I'm talking the first Hangover)
and I found some of it just boring. Still I'm glad that so many FMUKers enjoyed it. Some of the pretty, young things asked how I got my ticket and I put it down to the nice people on FMUK who are so good at sharing codes, competitions and information. They thought FMUK sounded great and planned to have a look. And I sat with a lady who always gets her codes and comps from MSE. I told her FMUK was far superior.

[funthing29]

And I sat with a lady who always gets her codes and comps from MSE. I told her FMUK was far superior.

[prettyxcool]

Glad you enjoyed the food and wine, ejwrank! And definitely, FMUK rocks!

[Beate]

Some of the pretty, young things asked how I got my ticket and I put it down to the nice people on FMUK who are so good at sharing codes, competitions and information. They thought FMUK sounded great and planned to have a look. And I sat with a lady who always gets her codes and comps from MSE. I told her FMUK was far superior.

I knew I could count on you!

[soonforgotten]

Haven't gotten around to writing about this one yet. I saw it for a second time last night in Islington, which is a far better venue than Shatsbury Avenue where I saw it the first time last Tuesday.

To my delight, the film retains a lot of its humour through a second viewing. I've found in the past that a lot of comedies I enjoyed the first time around lose a lot in repeat viewings. I don't know if I'd say that this one gets better, but it definitely keeps it's original laughs. Knowing what's about to come and cringing is an added joy.

The film on a whole is probably not as funny as the hype would have you believe. There are moments that are played totally straight in order to develop the characters/plot. That humour is sacrificed in these moments is not necessarily a bad thing, but that depends on what each viewer wants out of this viewing experience. For me, the "in all seriousness" breaks contribute to this being a solid story and not just a vehicle for vulgar toilet humour.

Kristen Wiig, who co-wrote this, is simply brilliant in her deadpan and sharp-tongued delivery. Plus, the woman knows how to lose "it" in style. Rose Byrne's Helen is a decent foil for Wiig's Annie, but don't expect a blow away performance from her. She plays the straight-man and while effective, I feel there was more potential for her character, who feels uneven.

The supporting cast is strong and Melissa McCarthy stands out as Megan. If this is the female Hangover, Megan is Zach Galifianakis' Alan, except that as the audience will eventually find out, there is a method to her madness and her character turns from comedic centrepiece to inspiration (whether you want it or not!). Chris O'Dowd's Rhodes offers a sweet salvation from Jon Hamm's dickish Ted, though the conclusion to his story with Annie feels a bit rushed. On that note, there are some plot holes or outright mysteries (such as Matt Lucas' Australian "English" sister and lack of development as a character in the first place), but they're nothing to be too bothered about. This is just a fun, at times stupid, gross-out comedy with heart and some hilariously original and memorable lines. 8.5/10

The one drawback with the Islington screening was that the projectionist totally botched the credits. I have no idea what happened but the audio/video totally cut out altogether and once the video returned it was without sound. So that last scene with Megan could be seen but not heard. That was pretty disappointing.

[tilly]

Just seen this at Wimbledon. I wasn't expecting much and I was not disappointed. It was a laugh out comedy with a story. I thought they each played their roles well.

Surprised to see a cameo role from an Englishman, not sure I'm allowed to say
9/10 from me and wouldn't mind seeing this again.

[hlm]

Saw this in Coventry tonight. We really enjoyed it and there was a lot of funny moments to enjoy :)

[AYBG]

Bridesmaids
9/10
Great. Really great. Well-written, brilliantly performed and even the gross-out gags didn't feel cheap. I was ready to knock this back to an 8 as the film looked to follow the misogyny of most rom-coms' third acts, but it didn't.
[spoiler]Yknow, guy shows up and solves everything[/spoiler]
I was expecting good things from the film, but it really packed a few surprises. Highly recommended.

The projection was a bit screwed up after the second minute - the top of the frame appeared at the bottom - but someone ran off a few minutes later and it was shortly fixed. A minor annoyance, but it didn't stop the audience laughing, and the atmosphere was great through the whole hilarious film.

[jojob76]

Gutted didn't get into see this in Bournemouth as when we arrived too many tickets had been distributed and cinema was full with big queue of peeps outside and no seats inside :0(