BY ZACH SCHREIBER ’13
Staff WriterDon’t worry, it’s not a chick flick. Ok, it’s a little bit of a chick flick, but you’ll like it — trust me. It’s a dramatic comedy (a dramedy). Bridesmaids adds laughs to a genre that usually puts me to sleep.

Bridesmaids breaks away from the usual ingredients and formulae to create what I believe is a new type of comedy where women rule and men look stupid. Nowadays, we see hardworking female protagonists trying to pursue their dreams while yelling, “Why isn’t anyone taking me seriously!” (Just watch Tina Fey’s awkward work-a-holic character from 30 Rock or Amy Poehler’s awkward work-a-holic character from Parks and Recreation to see what I’m talking about). They draw comedy from the strife of “the woman in the workplace,” and get laughs from awkward situations and failed attempts at X, Y, and Z. Sometimes you wind up laughing at how unfunny or awkward they are instead. The thing is, it’s hilarious and Bridesmaids takes this new type of comedy to the big screen.

Kristen Wiig, or as you probably know her, “that girl from SNL,” plays the loveable and self-destructive Annie Walker, who is asked to be the maid of honor at her best friend Lily’s wedding. Annie is going through a downward spiral of misfortunes: her bakery goes out of business, her friend-with-benefits turns her love away, and the tail-lights on her car aren’t working. Her scathing jealousy leaks through her forced smiles as she meets the lavish and sophisticated Helen Harris (Rose Byrne), Lily’s new friend and bridesmaid. This is where the back-and-forth, passive-aggressive catfight for Lily’s friendship begins. The pieces of Annie’s crumbling life seem to fall right into place as her misfortunes introduce her to new relationships, new loves, and new friends.

The bridesmaids are a team of random women looking for a break from the ordinary, and are using the opportunity to plan a wedding as their chance to go wild. The only one you really need to know is the brutish Megan (Melissa McCarthy). She’s the funniest character in every scene she’s in and offers some gross lines and encouraging speeches (and, spoiler, she steals a bunch of puppies).

Now, I do think there’s a new type of comedy brewing out there and Bridesmaids is the first of its kind. It’s like any other Judd Apatow movie mixed with “Girl Power!” mixed with some gross-out gags you didn’t want to see. A woman takes a shit in her wedding dress while sitting in the middle of the road. Yeah, it is gross, but also hilarious.

The same writers are concocting a new movie called The Five-Year Engagement; I know nothing about it except that in the preview a girl gets shot in the leg with an arrow at point-blank range. I don’t remember any movies where you laugh at a girl with an arrow sticking out of her leg, but that’s what we have now. It falls into the same category that Bridesmaids created: the unheard story of a woman working up a sweat and trying to look good at the same time.

It’s a little long, but finals haven’t started yet, and let’s be serious, you have nothing better to do.

Questions? Email Zach at zachary.schreiber@fandm.edu.