Yesterday we shared the trailer for Judd Apatow’s latest, Bridesmaids, a comedy that is already raising eyebrows because it stars women! What the what? In a rated-R comedy? Well, surely they’ll don designer duds and strut around extolling puns about their sex lives, right? No!…It’s about damn time.
Instead, this female-fronted comedy, which is co-written by/stars SNL’s Kristen Wiig, centers on the inherent tensions that arise en route to a friend’s wedding day. This may sound like familiar terrain, but if the trailer is any indication, this will be no insipid Bride Wars. The comedy here seems to be more incisive, much of it coming from the awkwardness that derives from when you have to mingle with friends of friends with whom you have little to nothing in common.
Helmed by Freaks & Geeks creator Paul Feig, this Apatow feature stars an estrogen-charged comedy dream team that includes Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph (Away We Go), Wendi McLendon Covey (Reno 911!), Ellie Kemper (The Office), Melissa McCarthy (The Gilmore Girls) and Rose Byrne (Get Him to the Greek) doing her most withering bitch-face. What else could you possibly want?
How about a side of Jon Hamm? (Yes, please!)
Honestly, with this cast and crew, I was hard-pressed to think of anything that could make me more excited about this movie. Then I read director Paul Feig’s comments about women and comedy on EW:
“The whole goal of making this movie was to make a very funny, very honest movie about women in a way that they’re not normally made…Both Judd and I feel women are very much underserved by modern comedy, because it’s all so guy-centric.”
So, there Katherine Heigl!
When asked about the “blue” humor the film seems to own, Feig responded, “If you’ve ever overheard a group of women together, it’s not a tea party most of the time…It was important for us to do that so when women come to see the movie, they would go, like, ‘Oh god, that’s just like my friends’…There’s tons of comedy but there’s also very relatable honest moments that are real and not always reaching for a laugh.”
I know the Apatow Mafia has oft been accused of being too bro-centric in their comedy efforts, but I’ve never had a problem with it as they tend to surround themselves with solid and strong comediennes. All the same, I’m more than ready to see the crew put their manchild shenanigans aside and let the ladies take center stage.
As I’ve said in previous posts, 2010’s been a good year for female-fronted comedies, with Emma Stone’s blockbuster turn in Easy A and Lena Dunham’s Tiny Furniture attracting major fans (including Apatow with whom she’s now collaborating on an HBO comedy series.) So, I’m hopeful 2011 will continue this trend, and that Bridesmaids will prove to be an R-rated comedy us ladies can proudly call our own.
Of course, there’s still a ways to go, because as much as Bridesmaids is being touted as ‘made for women by women’ it is being produced and directed by two notable male figures. But hey, let’s look at the positives here, the best of which may well be: Kristen Wiig is finally starring in her own damn movie!
Bridesmaids will open May 13th, 2011.
Will you be in attendance?