Bridesmaids Premiere

** Disclaimer: I swear I have been in no way swayed by the kind attentions of the fabulously funny Ms. Kristen Wiig...

Written by: Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo

Directed by Paul Feig

Starring: Kristen Wiig, Chris O'Dowd, Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Jon Hamm

Rating: 8/10

"Better than The Hangover!" That's what the poster says...since when is The Hangover the bar by which great comedy should be judged? Well, whatever the case may be, that poster boast is definitely correct. Bridesmaids, in the guise of a gross-out comedy is beyond anything The Hangover could ever dream of...

Source: entertainment.ie

Last night saw the director and cast of Bridesmaids walk the pink carpet at the Savoy Cinema, Dublin for the Irish premiere. Director Paul Feig (who I was tickled to recognise as Sabrina's biology teacher from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) along with stars Kristen Wiig (Saturday Night Live, Whip It, Knocked Up), Melissa McCarthy (Gilmore Girls, Mike and Molly) and Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd) were all on hand to answer questions and meet their fans (and in Chris's case, a swarm of cousins) and they appeared before the screening to introduce the film.

The hype from the States was huge but in my eyes the film more than lived up to it. Don't get me wrong, Bridesmaids is crass, silly, fun and follows the classic rom-com template. There's nothing new here. It's just that it gets every convention and nails it perfectly. It takes every low-brow joke and gives it class. It takes potentially cliched characters and make you seriously feel for them. A combination of top-notch performances and first-class direction from Paul Feig ensured every comic beat is hit, and the best is made of every joke.

The story follows Annie (Kristen Wiig), a woman on the verge of forty, whose business collapsed and boyfriend scuppered, taking with him her sense of self and every ounce of her energy and ambition. Her best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) announces she's getting married and she wants Annie to be her maid of honour but Lillian's new, prettier, richer, sweeter best friend Helen (Rose Byrne) is trying every underhanded trick in the book to upstage Annie. At the core of the film is Annie's journey from decadent passivity to realisation that she has hit rock bottom to a slow, realistic effort to find her spark again. The journey is truly a touching one and it helps tremendously that Kristen Wiig puts in a powerhouse performance. Her quick, razor-sharp wit and vulnerability allows us to forgive the unfortunate behaviour she exhibits at her lowest point.

Source: entertainment.ie

Having said that, this is by no means a depressing film and unlike Annie, it doesn't allow itself to wallow for a second. Not a minute goes by without a superb gag and the supporting cast are such great performers that they make even the most gutter-worthy gags hilarious...and believe me, there's some gags in this movie that would make the Farrelly Brothers blush. The chemistry between the cast is electric and the developing relationships between the women are believable, but most importantly the developing romance between Annie and Officer Nathan Rhodes (O'Dowd) is really sweet and felt completely natural. Chris O'Dowd more than holds his own here as the good-natured, lovable policeman who falls for Annie. And as much as we all love Jon Hamm (who, again, proves his comic capabilities are second to none), we can't wait until he's out of the picture and Annie can pick up the pieces of her waning self-esteem with the warm, encouraging Nathan. He must also be applauded for not falling into any of the usual Oirish cliches but managing to represent Irish men in a wonderful light. Full of humour, smiling eyes and sly charm, he is a far cry from the characters he usually plays and pulls it off remarkably.

Rose Byrne, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy are all outstanding in their roles, each making the most of their meaty roles, superbly written by Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo. This screenplay is deserving of all kinds of awards but I predict that, like Judd Apatow's horribly overlooked Funny People it will probably be deemed too much fun to earn awards.

I can only presume that Bridesmaids will be as successful here as in the States. The magical combination of girly and gross-out should satisfy everyone and the balance of low-brow and high-brow should even keep the grumpy critics happy!

 - Charlene Lydon

TRAILER:

We Love...The Town from Film Ireland

Ben Affleck’s second film as a director The Town allayed the doubts of any sceptics. Gone Baby Gone (2007) was an ambitious, impressive debut which pulled some brilliant performances from its cast and told a complex story deftly. This time Affleck upped the ante by not only directing The Town but also starring in the film. The Town is a pleasant surprise as it is not only a perfect showcase for Affleck’s powerful filmmaking skills but the role proves he is much more than chiselled features and a cheeky grin. Due to some poor choices in the past, Ben Affleck is rarely given much credit for his acting skills but here he provides a mix of likeability and classic Hollywood charisma. He has proven withThe Townthat he is certainly next in line to Eastwood’s throne as the King of the Actor/Directors, not that Eastwood shows any signs of hanging up his crown just yet.

For those of you who haven’t seen it, The Town is a classic heist setup. Doug (Affleck) is a nice guy born on the wrong side of the tracks into an area of Boston where bank robbers seem to be bred from generation to generation. He is convinced to do one last job but things get complicated when they take Claire, a smart, sexy bank manager (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage. Doug is sent to seduce her in the hope that he might find out what she is telling the FBI but he soon becomes enamoured of her, jeopardising the relationships between the gang.

This is a pretty generic story but what makes this film special is that it does not revel in the lifestyle of these people. The world that is built in the film is not the cocaine-fuelled high-life of gangsters á la Goodfellas;these are blue collar, working-class men who were raised in this lifestyle and rob banks like expert scamps, giddy on the adrenaline and unaffected by the presence of the law. ‘The Law’ in this case is represented by FBI agents Frawley (Jon Hamm), a prejudiced and jaded bureaucrat and Ciampa (Titus Welliver), a former resident of Charlestown, now sympathetic turncoat. The complex dynamic of cop and robber is brilliantly evolved due to the delicate balance of where our sympathies lie.

As the story progresses and the relationship between Doug and Claire deepens the tension mounts as Doug becomes more and more tangled in the web of family and neighbourhood ties he is stuck in.

There are three major action sequences in the films, the first being Claire’s bank which is thrilling, and frightening in its brutality (undoubtedly influenced by Nolan’s opening scene inThe Dark Knight). The second action sequence is a post-robbery car chase through Boston’s winding, hilly, North End. I’m not usual one for car chases but I cherished this one as a one-of-a-kind action sequence that got every element perfect for cinematic thrills. The blue-collar nature of The Town ensures a creeping sense that life is cheap and happy endings are not guaranteed, giving this film an added layer of turmoil.

The final action set piece is a brazen robbery of Fenway Park. A brilliant sequence, the story of this one robbery in all its intricacy is like a film all to itself. It also leads to the film’s final showdown and thrilling climax which is so packed with energy and cinematic tension that it became clear that this is the year’s best thriller by a mile (take that, Lisabeth Salander!).

In a film that plays with notions of heroes and villains, kudos must go to the recently deceased Pete Postlethwaite for his slimy portrayal of the only clear evil bastard of the film, Fergie the florist; a wonderfully memorable monster whose villainous ways are delightfully menacing and gut-wrenchingly hateful. Never has rose-stem snipping been more terrifying. A fitting end to a great career!

I’ve never found myself a lover of gangster films or heist films. In fact, I usually find it difficult to connect with them at all. The Town is, for some reason or another, a welcome exception. Perhaps it was the fact that I could buy into the lifestyle as a bread-and-butter means to an end rather than a hedonistic pursuit of money and cocaine or perhaps it’s the community of characters that is so deftly woven together or maybe it’s just the sum of all its parts; acting, writing, directing, pacing adding up to a superior cinematic experience. In a year full of extremes of good and bad films, The Town proudly stands with the best of them as an example of how classy a genre film can be with the right talent involved.

 - Charlene Lydon

from: http://www.filmireland.net/2011/01/14/we-love-2010-the-town/