Bachelorette

After the release of Bridesmaids, there was all sorts of talk about how women can be just as disgusting as men, and whether it would spawn a series of gross-out comedies aimed at women. I don't think that ever really happened, although the 2012 release Bachelorette, which was D.O.A. at the box office, may have been a product of that thought process.

Bachelorette, which was written and directed by Leslie Headland, uses the template established by The Hangover--a group of friends have misadventures the night before the wedding of a fourth. However, Bachelorette has much smaller obstacles--there is no Mike Tyson, lost babies, or naked Chinese gangsters locked in trunks.

Four friends from high school, who called themselves the "Bee-Yotch Faces," have kept in touch over the years. The first to get married is the heavyset Rebel Wilson. That she is getting married first drives type-A Kirsten Dunst over the rails, but then this plot point isn't followed upon. Instead, Dunst plans the wedding, and enlists the other two in the group, slacker Lizzie Kaplan and ditz and addict Isla Fisher, as bridesmaids. The night before the wedding, Dunst and Fisher climb into Wilson's wedding gown to show how big it is and rip it. The rest of the film is the three girls trying to get it fixed or replaced.

Of course each has a romantic subplot. Caplan has run into her old boyfriend, Adam Scott, while Fisher is pursued, passively, by a "nice guy," Kyle Bornheimer. Dunst is attracted to and repelled by the best man, James Marsden. Of this trio, only Caplan and Scott's relationship seems authentic.

A quick note on Wilson's weight--the film has a hard time deciding whether to make an issue of it or not. It is noted that she was called "pig face" in school, but did have these friends, and is marrying a good-looking, successful guy. I think Headland was trying to make a positive role for a heavy woman, and that is a good thing, but the movie seems to hold its breath when discussing the subject. The central act of the film, the ripping of the dress, is actually a joke at Wilson's weight's expense.

This a frequent problem in Bachelorette--tone. It is not uproarious comedy like Bridesmaids, but instead a kind of nostalgic reunion comedy. Certain cultural touchstones, such as My So-Called Life and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, are used to identify characters (this is such a cop-out--instead of building characters, the script merely compares them to others) and the sisterhood of this quartet is celebrated as some sort of girl-power. I never fully bought it, despite some good performances, especially by Dunst and Caplan.