1810. Bride Wars (2009)

Starring: Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Chris Pratt

Director: Gary Winick

Running Time: 89 mins

Bride Wars is an American film about two best friends who get engaged to be married at almost exactly the same time. However, when they discover that they are going to have to have their dream weddings on the same day and at the same place, their relationship sours as they attempt to get one over on the other in any way possible.

In all fairness, I’m definitely not the target audience for this film. That said, it’s not an excuse when half of the world population has barely an idea what’s going on, as we watch two women scream their way through an hour and a half of overly trivial and irritating comedy.

But before I get into why this film doesn’t work, let’s quickly look at what it does well. For its target audience, I’m sure it’s full of some excellent in-jokes and fun, while it also manages to give a few moments to the male viewpoint of the ensuing madness between the two women, allowing for a few moments of comprehensible respite.

What’s more is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. For all its irritating faults, the film at least has an entirely comedic atmosphere, not falling into the common trap of trying to illicit too much dramatic sympathy from uninteresting and generic characters, and at least allowing for something a lot more light-hearted, meaning the film isn’t quite as painful as you may expect.

With all of that said, the fact remains that Bride Wars isn’t a great film at all. It’s definitely not as funny as it wants to be, its story is entirely predictable and generic from start to finish, and for the vast majority of male viewers, it’s pretty incomprehensible, with so much focus placed on something so dull and trivial.

What’s worse is that it’s hard to tell exactly what the film is laughing at. While it may at first seem as if it’s making fun of the two women’s ridiculous behaviour over nothing at all, there are too many moments that seem to reinforce the alleged importance of their wedding planning, and it feels far more like the film is treating this as a normal comedy, instead using slapstick rather than using the humour of the entire situation to make you laugh.

Overall, I wasn’t much of a fan of Bride Wars. It’s not the world’s worst film, and I’m sure that some people can have fun with it if they understand the ‘plight’ of the two main characters. However, with poor comedy, an uninteresting and generic story, and an irritating central focus throughout, I didn’t find much to enjoy here, and that’s why I’m giving it a 6.1.