Bride Wars (4/10)

The most entertaining bits were in the first 30 minutes or so. Watching how the two got proposed to has its own charm and laughs. Had the movie carried on with the momentum of the introduction, it would have been more interesting.

But right after the two brides-to-be were told of the mix-up between their wedding date; the movie took a bad turn into clichés and boredom. Watching the two women act like children playing pranks on each other was nothing new, original, or empowering for the 21st century.

And when Kate Hudson’s Liv walked into a meeting with her blouse wrapped around her head to cover her coloured hair, with only a jacket over her bra, the movie dipped to a new low.

The story lost its credibility when two strong and capable women (and actresses) turned not only into “bridezillas” all for the sake of having a perfect wedding, but also fell into the female stereotype of being unreasonable under such circumstances.

It’s as if they were competing to see who can be more petty, who can make the other more miserable just so they could feel better about their situation. It’s not even about the wedding or the husbands anymore.

Throughout the craziness, Bryan Greenberg playing Liv’s brother, Nate, looked the sanest and calmest every time he’s onscreen and he reminded the audience that there’s still some reality in the movie.

Cue the scene when Nate and Emma are sharing a quiet moment while Nate tested out his tuxedo, it was the most “real” moment in the entire movie with layers and layers of acting on Hathaway’s part.

Other sparks, however rarely, came in the form of Kristen Johnston as Emma’s overly self-absorbed fellow teacher and a last resort as her maid of honour. Johnston had the best punchlines and delivered them with impeccable timing.

Director Gary Winick has done much better than this, with “Charlotte’s Web” and even “13 Going On 30”. But with a script such as this one, there’s not much anyone can do.

Wedding satire or not, a note to the writers and producers which include Kate Hudson; one wedding in the morning and one in the afternoon would have solved everything. Yes, there’s no fun in that, but there is no fun in this one anyway.