Bridesmaids

If you have read this blog, you know I have a prejudice against film comedies written by or for the alumni of Saturday Night Live. "Bridesmaids" doesn't change my view, but it is probably better than most.
Kristen Whig (also the writer), plays a goofy screw-up. Her love life is a mess, her business went belly up and she is sharing a living space with the roommates from hell. Her best friend (Maya Rudolph, also SNL)is faring much better. She's about to be married and Whig's character is to be Maid of Honor. Enter a collection of oddball bridesmaids around whom the story (what there is of it) revolves. This includes Melissa McCarthy as a heavy, homely, hard ass who has managed to grow a healthy harvest of self-esteem in some very thin topsoil. More on her later.
"Bridesmaids" then becomes a series of sketches, some funny, some sweet, some not so much. All typical pre-wedding stuff. Whig does manage to pull off a scene where the bathroom humor is slightly more funny than gross. I guess that's something.
This film is typical of all SNL-fostered comedies. Funny scenes (mostly) strung together on the thinnest thread of dramatic structure. That may sound hoity-toity of me but the result is a thoroughly forgettable movie. This one has some funny stuff, some interesting and likable characters, but it doesn't add up to much of a movie. Good try though.
"Bridesmaids" also has Melissa McCarthy whose character does have a complete arc and who does do some excellent character work. She's gotten a lot of awards attention, maybe even enough to wrangle an Oscar nomination. I have no problem with that. She's outstanding. But other talk of Oscar nominations....Best Picture? Best Screenplay? Please. That's just crazy talk.