Bride Wars

QUESTIONABLE: (Gary Winick) Um, I am not really sure where to begin with this one. Aside from the frustration of having to spend that $10 for 2 hours of mindless entertainment on something so mindless (and at the same time ridiculous), there is the question of whether or not it was worth the sacrifice. Would I have missed out on anything? No. Would I be better off having not seen it? Financially, yes, and--I'll go there--wholly, yes. It might be a little harsh, especially for those of you who enjoyed a chuckle or two at Anne Hathaway sitting single at the Strip Club before mounting a knotted rope swing in satin shorts and a top hat all in the name of revenge, so I'll announce some redeeming qualities right off the bat. Humor. It had some. Mostly at the expense of Kristen Johnston's already suffering credibility, but also because who can't help but laugh at two "best" friends who are willing to give up having any friends at all in their wedding party because neither is willing to change wedding locales. There are moments of unique laughter, as Kate Hudson's Liv stalks into her boyfriend's office demanding an engagement only to realize he was planning it that particular night. Yes, I can tell you're dying at the originality and--oh!--the irony! Anne Hathaway plays the understated, second-fiddle friend, almost the protagonist until she chases Hudson down the aisle as her ceremony began. Awkward and dramatic, especially since our protagonist is the one who breaks the cake with her own fiance and wa-LAH, marries the random brother one year later. Happiness is inevitable I guess, and I am sure all those people clapped and cried and were immediately over the shock of seeing Hathaway's Emma humping a high school boy on the table in Mexico, or Liv's bra hanging out of her Vera Wang wedding dress. These are all normal, easy to get over things. Good thing, because I did get over them. I was able to laugh, and I felt the hint at sentimentality... but overall, the utter ridiculousness created more of a distraction than anything. I couldn't get by with telling myself, "it's just a movie," or "it isn't supposed to be real life." I mean, that is why people see movies in the first place, am I right? For an escape from reality? Unfortunately, in today's world, we're looking more for a brighter sense of reality, an encouragement sort of... not a delusional hyped-up netherworld of bridal fantasy and backstabbing best friends. Okay. Whew. Back to redeeming qualities. This little flick fits into the stereotypical night of popcorn, pillow fights and pink pajamas, where conveniently you can watch it on dvd and split a $4 rental fee many ways. You can laugh at a cute girly romantic comedy and brush off bad writing and stooped credibility for much less of your wallet and sanity. But even with that said, what happened to Pretty in Pink?