Bachelorette Has Bridesmaids, but Also Blow, Bulimia and Bitterness

It’s unfortunate, in a way, that Bachelorette came out after Bridesmaids. The story was actually a stage play in 2010 (when it was, sigh, compared to Sex And The City), and although there are bridesmaids at the heart of the story, Bachelorette is quite different. In Bridesmaids, when Maya Rudolph’s character announces she’s engaged, Kristen Wiig’s character is sincerely thrilled. In Bachelorette, when Rebel Wilson manages to squeeze a word in during a bitchfest-y brunch with Kirsten Dunst, Dunst grits her teeth and contorts her mouth into a grimace that looks almost like a smile as she blatantly lies, “I’m so happy for you.” It’s just the beginning.

With detailed blow job descriptions, cocaine use and up-all-night antics, Bachelorette also gets compared to The Hangover. But it’s an entirely different kind of comedy, closer to Girls in its realistic portrayal of self-absorbed, seriously flawed women who are, in the end, humanized by letting others glimpse some vulnerability. These people feel real, like girls you know… or maybe even like that chick in the mirror. The script delves into the kind of complicated female friendships that mix love with loathing. People might get tricked by the trailer, which paints the film as a silly, Hollywood-style light-hearted romp. But it’s not. It’s something better: The characters, haunted by past, present and future ghosts, unflinchingly experience real, raw emotions — bitterness, jealousy, fear, pettiness. Of course, none of that sounds hilarious, but writer Leslye Headland’s dialogue is very funny; the ladies are razor sharp and foul-mouthed. Hopefully the comparisons to Bridesmaids won’t keep people from checking out Bachelorette, because there’s a beauty in a grittier type of tale. Instead of diarrhea, Wilson Phillips and cupcakes, you get blow, bulimia and one night stands. You might be sick of how lady-movies are always about one of the three Bs — brides, boys or babies — but in this case, the bride is incidental.