BRIDESMAIDS

Yes, I was the hooded, shaded, crouching lump of barely- breathing humanity in the last row. My fear of being sighted was fictional, the next senior person was no more than thirty!

Why did I venture into this mindless fluff? Because two super intelligent friends told me I should not miss it; they were correct; I have ceaselessly been intellectually rehashing the   myriad of realistic issues addressed in this at times gross, raunchy, contemporary movie.

Having no history with “Saturday Night Live” I found Kristen Wiig (also co- wrote “ Bridesmaids” with Annie Mumolo) refreshing, plausible in her depiction of “Annie”; pathetic, clueless, soon-to-be maid of honor in her best friend’s wedding. We recognize Annie and we know her by other sobriquets; individuals who eternally allow the “situation” to dominate their actions; they are the conquered, victims succumbing to a campaign of circumstances, sabotaging clairvoyant, rational thought, perpetually sinking in a morass of indecision; we pity their ineptitude.

“Bridesmaids” is a contest, a duel between befuddled, disorganized, but well-meaning Annie and the gorgeous, too perfect, obnoxiously wealthy Helen ( Rose Byrne) for the pivotal role in Lillian’s (Maya Rudolph) the bride’s pre- wedding festivities. Predictability ensues, peppered with occasional moments of hilarity.

The “scene queen”, thief, was corpulent Melissa McCarthy as Megan; comfortable in her mass; keenly wise; the antithesis of Annie, she commands, controls and dominates every situation. The movie hums with her presence; she is comic relief, the court jester; emanating truth, intelligence, logic. She spews forth the solutions, sees “the forest through the trees” (does not “bloat”) and leaves a vacuum with her absence. “Bridesmaids” is viable because of her performance.

Many marriages are fractured, die within the first year; the prime reason…. couples focus too heavily on the “wedding” and not the “marriage”. The Honeymoon ends; laundry, groceries, babies, bills embrace and erase the glow of “young” love.  The sagacious, enlightened, recognize the core of any lasting relationship rests with nurturing, watering, remembering the halcyon days, but fueling smoldering fires until ultimately the “marriage” becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

TWO & 1/2 STARS!!

For Now…………..Peneflix