Bachelorette (2012)

I don’t know what possessed me to buy Bachelorette.  Maybe its because I was going to be part of my friend’s wedding in March or that I really wanted some inspiration for the bachelorette party.  Even though, I didn’t really end up watching it until afterwards.  Either way, I needed a comedy and this became available.  It has been a week or two since I’ve seen this so I’m not exactly sure how to approach this anymore.

Director: Leslye Headland

Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan, Rebel Wilson, James Marsden, Kyle Bornheimer, Hayes MacArthur, Adam Scott

Three high school friends, Regan (Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizza Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher) are asked by Becky (Rebel Wilson), a girl that they used to hang out with as the ugly duckling of the group, to be her bridesmaids.  Regan is a control freak with a long distance relationship that doesn’t seem to work anymore but she holds onto it.  Gena lives a life of sleeping with a lot of different guys but with nothing really stable in life while having a hard time getting over her ex-boyfriend and Katie is a sales rep who doesn’t really grows up but spends her days smoking and using her beauty to get by.  As reluctant as they are to be the bridesmaids of Becky’s wedding, they all show up and end up causing more trouble than they should when they accidentally break Becky’s dress and scramble to find a way to fix it before the next morning, the wedding day, while facing up to some of their own problems.

After letting this movie sit too long in my system before I write it, I know that you can’t think too much about this one.  Bachlelorette came very close and soon after Bridesmaids mega success.  If you are thinking of getting the same level of enjoyment (assuming you liked Bridesmaids), this one doesn’t come close at all.  I’m not really a fan of Kirsten Dunst but I don’t hate her either.  I like Isla Fisher for the most part and if anything, I’ve been a long time fan of Lizzy Caplan.  But, Bachelorette doesn’t focus much on our bachelorette, Becky played by Rebel Wilson but rather her bridesmaids.  I guess you can’t call the movie that name since it was already used, right? Either way, point is, this movie is full of obnoxious characters.  All of the girls don’t have any truly likeable traits from the get go.  Even Becky isn’t quite that nice as well.  On a side note, it kind of reminds me why I don’t have all that many girl friends in my life and that I’m frankly very thankful for that.

 

Still, these girls pull of some decent funny moments.  It doesn’t come in elegance or anything because movies these days don’t do that anymore but as over the top of some of these characters get, they still get in their moments where they are stuck in pretty ridiculous situations where you either will roll your eyes or laugh a little.  I’m more of the latter so I guess thats a good sign.  The only thing that does hinder it is that these girls end up turning for the better a lot more than imaginable.  I’m not exactly sure a bachelorette night turned wrong and wedding dress fiasco is the place to grow since I’ve never experienced it but I guess the key here is that friendship does get you through some things and then its about eventually growing up and facing your problems and reality. Because as one of the characters pointed out, its not cute to be acting like when you were in high school.

However, the best one in all of this has to be the parts with Lizzy Caplan.  I’m not sure when I started liking her.  It could be in Mean Girls.  In this one, I feel like she does shine because her story is cute and funny especially with her ex played by Adam Scott, that shows up shortly after.  It makes her character believable that she was drowning her pains and regrets from her high school days and finally growing up.

 

Now that we’ve gotten Adam Scott in mix.  Its probably time to look at the guys.  Although, the guys don’t really have huge significant part in this.  They are paired with each of the girls.  Its somewhat of a high school reunion and it never feels like it isn’t.  One of them is a geek who is smart and successful and tries to get the beauty in his gentlemanly ways, another is the groom (who doesn’t have much place in this), and then we have James Marsden who plays Trevor who isn’t such an admirable guy either but just wants to get hot girls like Kirsten Dunst’s Regan in this case.  He’s all about the challenge.  Then we have Adam Scott and his character Clyde who actually gets a whole lot of screen time because of his high school relationship issues with Gena that was never settled before.  As awkward as his ending speech was, it was actually pretty funny.

Are you getting mixed signals about this one from me? Bachelorette is probably not a movie I hate but its not one I’ll look forward to revisit anytime soon because I’d prefer to sit through Bridesmaids any day if I had the choice.  However, its not all bad.  As unlikeable as the characters are, they still bring in some laughs here and there is one couple, Clyde and Gena’s relationship that shines through over everything and makes it a little more fun. Still, its not very memorable and just a few weeks after, as I’m writing this up, I had to strive really hard to try and remember it a little.

 Have you seen Bachelorette? What do you think of it?