BRIDE WARS: Two Weddings & A Brawl

BRIDE WARS (comedy)
Cast: Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen, Bryan Greenberg, Chris Pratt and Steve Howey
Director: Gary Winick
Time: 90 mins
Rating: * * 1/2 (out of 4)


PREAMBLE: Coming so close after 'Rachel Getting Married', we can't help but compare Anne Hathaway's performance in that movie with 'Bride Wars'. The former provided so much scope for Hathaway to display her talents whereas the script of 'Bride Wars' is so vacuous that it is like a walk in the park for her and co-star Kate Hudson. After 'Rachel Getting Married', this one can only be a trip downhill for Hathaway.

WHAT'S IT ABOUT? Hudson and Hathaway play Liv and Emma (pictured), childhood best friends who made a vow to be maid-of-honour at each other's wedding, to be a June bride and get married at the Plaza of Manhattan. Liv is a hotshot lawyer and Emma is an overworked schoolteacher. Soon, a series of events happens: their fiances propose just about the same week, they both book the Plaza and have the same famous wedding planner (Candice Bergen as Marion) - and lo and behold, Marion's assistant screws up and they are both scheduled to wed on the same day!

The simple and logical solution to the problem is of course, have a double wedding, but no, the scripters would not have it and so we have the two Brides At War.

HITS AND MISSES: Apparently, the writers' main aim is to explore ways in which Hudson and Hathaway can play tricks on each other and derail each other's plans. To their credit, they explore a number of wedding-planning routines and squeeze out some gags from them but most of them seem contrived. They do not provide enough depth to the plot other than showing how the BFFs (best friends forever) and turn into BEFs (bitter enemies forever).

Actingwise, Hudson and Hathaway display great screen chemistry and they should help to attract the ladies crowd to what is basically a 'ladies' film' which make the men, especially the would-be grooms, look like idiots.

THE LOWDOWN: With so many recent movies about weddings (“Enchanted,” “The Heartbreak Kid,” “Sex and the City,” “Mamma Mia!,” “27 Dresses” and “Made of Honor”), can we give this one a miss?