I get it, studios. I’m wise to your game. Every year since I began writing for andPOP, just before Oscar time, I’ve been suckered into invited to my first screening of the year, a featherweight comedy I’ve heard nothing about, starring an actress I really like (this time Anne Hathaway instead of Diane Keaton), and whose presence at the multiplex is meant to provide a welcome respite from all that serious fare. And every year, when your movie is over, my brain hurts and I watch an example of said multiplex’s so-called serious fare to restore my faith in cinema.

I am not an elitist. I enjoy romantic comedies. I wanted to like Made of Honour. I loved Sex and the City. I’m looking forward to Confessions of a Shopaholic. And I was impressed by the quality of one-upmanship as Kate Hudson and Ms. Hathaway played dirty tricks on each other throughout Bride Wars.

But there’s no getting around it: this is a not-good movie.

It will entertain its intended audience. Its set-up (two best friends are forced to mount their dream wedding on the same day) is executed about as admirably as it can be. Only one plot contrivance stretches the boundaries of credibility. But every instance of “character development” brings the film to a screeching halt.

I empathize with movie characters easily. This means I’m more likely to be strung along in a genre film, provided the characters are consistent, but it also means I’ll curse the screenwriters especially vehemently when I recognize them trying – and failing – to sell me on what occurs. It also means I devote more space to a movie like Because I Said So or The Happening than it really deserves.

Basically in Bride Wars Hudson’s character is a bitch and Hathaway’s character is a doormat. Proving the screenwriters understood the first paragraph (and little else) of character development 101, by the end of the film Hudson recognizes that she does not have to be in control all the time and Hathaway is no longer a doormat. There is, however, a fine line between assertiveness and becoming an arrogant jerk, and I think Hathaway crosses it. Instead of the logical conclusion (the brides agreeing to a dual wedding), we’re offered a false ending masquerading as a happy one.

I feel obligated to mention that I am not a fan of Ms. Hudson. If you are, your enjoyment of Bride Wars will increase accordingly. Nor do I regret seeing it, but that is solely because of Ms. Hathaway. The ending made my brain hurt. I would not have paid good money to see Bride Wars outside of andPOP.

The film I saw afterward, you may ask? Milk. Wonderful movie. Populist entertainment, believe it or not. Worth every cent.






Related Stories: