Summer wedding season.  Your friends tap you to be in their wedding party.  You’ve gotta stay sober ‘til the reception.  The ushers aren’t nearly as good looking as your soon-to-be-wed buddy promised.  And you’ll never wear that ugly satin dress again, not even if you just shorten it.  But you don’t need an ugly dress or a history of wedding-induced trauma to enjoy Bridesmaids.  Though a hot usher wouldn’t hurt.

Think of this as The Hangover, with chicks.  And without the tiger and Mike Tyson.  That shortcut summary is just my way of saying that this movie is girly, yes, but dudes will like it too.  Annie (Kristen Wiig) gets tapped to be her best friend Lillian’s (Maya Rudolph) Maid Of Honor, but with Annie’s life on a downward spiral, Lillian’s nuptuals aren’t going to be anything featured in Brides Magazine.  And thank goodness.  I’m a huge fan of girly rom-coms (as a female, it’s the law), but after a while you can start cranking out the storylines in your sleep.  With Bridesmaids you know you’re in for a roller-coaster ride of chaos, but unlike standard romance flicks, you’re never sure what’s around the corner.  Another good thing is the men are kept to a minimum in this movie; the focus isn’t on the wedding, it’s on the interaction between Lillian and her best friend/worst bridesmaid Annie.  There is a bit of romance in Bridesmaids, but it’s used to illustrate Annie’s inability to move forward with her life.

Rounding out the wedding party are Rose Byrne as over-achiever Helen, Ellie Kemper as naive Becca, Wendi McLendon-Covey as wild-woman Rita and Melissa McCarthy as token bridesmaid/sister-of-the-groom Megan.  Melissa McCarthy all but steals every scene she’s in with her ability to throw herself into her character.  Megan ain’t the sweet Sookie St. James of Gilmore Girls, but a blue-collar gal that is hilarious and a breath of fresh air.  Come on; Fight Club as a wedding shower theme?  And her scenes with real-life husband Ben Falcone (as fellow air traveler Jon) are a scream.  Jill Clayburg gets into the act as Annie’s off-the-wall mom, and I couldn’t help thinking about her own riot grrl films of her era, Starting Over and An Unmarried Woman.  Bridesmaids is Ms. Clayburg’s last performance (she passed away November, 2010), and she gives her character charm and goofy humor.

Underneath the gross-out humor and sight gags of Bridesmaids is a good look at the competitiveness of female relationships.  Annie and Helen’s passive-aggressive competition is all too true to life, even though here it’s played for laughs.  So is the relationship between Annie and Lillian.  Annie is overjoyed for her friend, but fears being left behind as everyone else she knows moves forward with their lives.  Bridesmaids shows female friendships as the messy, bitchy, loving relationships they really are.  This movie also lets women be human, which made me hark back to My Best Friend’s Wedding, another movie where a woman is allowed to have thoughts that aren’t all puppies and rainbows.  Thanks for Bridesmaid’s success in telling it like it is goes to writers Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, as well as director Paul Feig, who has shown his ability to craft believable humor with his work on Freaks and Geeks and Arrested Development.

Women who flock to this movie thinking they’re in for a Sex and the City or 27 Dresses romp will be in for a shock.  These ladies are much more true-to-life than the sweethearts in those films.  Which means there’s swearing, booze, food poisoning and crazy sex with John Hamm.  (Yes, you’re uncredited here, but don’t think I don’t recognize you, John.)  Head out to catch Bridesmaids before the next wedding you’ve got on your calendar.  Or better yet, go after and smuggle in a piece of wedding cake and a flask of champagne.  Just leave the dress at home.

Rachel loves Dex. Dex loves Rachel. But Dex is marrying Rachel’s best friend, Darcy. How things got so messed up, and how things right themselves, is Something Borrowed.

What’s to love about this movie about love? Lots. The casting of the leads is perfect; Ginnifer Goodwin (Big Love, He’s Just Not That Into You) as Rachel is the perfect mix of intelligence, drive and insecurity. Kate Hudson (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Bride Wars) cranks it up to 11 as Darcy, Rachel’s self-absorbed, narcissistic friend. But Kate adds a bubbly exuberance and genuine caring to the character that makes it easy to understand why straight-laced Rachel maintained such a close relationship with her over the years. Colin Egglesfield as Dex, the object of both girls’ obsession, is a perfect gorgeous guy blank-canvas that Rachel and Darcy adore. But it’s John Krasinski (The Office, Away We Go) as Ethan, Rachel’s guy BFF, that really stands out. Sure, this is a romantic comedy, but Krasinski’s Ethan flexes some serious acting chops. And he turns the thankless “best friend that harbors a crush” into a character I found myself rooting for. Not because Colin Egglesfield’s Dex is so one-note (though he is), but because Ethan is a fully fleshed character played by an actor who not only knows his craft, but enjoys it. Props also to Steve Howey (Shameless, Reba) for smarm-king Marcus, a role I would have never thought he could pull off after years playing Mr. Nice Guy on Reba. Here’s hoping he gets more recognition; hopefully that’s already on the way for Shameless.

But Something Borrowed is more than just well-written characters being put through their paces by actors almost tailor-made to play them; the writing keeps the story lively. Nice trick for a movie that could have been bogged down by the “love comes after cheating” premise. Like Buffy The Vampire Slayer (the TV series, not the movie), these characters say exactly what you wish you could say at the moment it needs to be said. Smart comebacks? You got ‘em. Well thought-out expressions of love and friendship? In spades. The dialogue is so whip-smart I found myself jotting notes, just so I could remember them if ever I had need. Like I’d be as on the ball as these characters. Hope springs eternal.

The camera work is seamless, from gorgeous overhead and wide shots of New York City that makes Manhattan come alive like the latest 3D wishes it could, to close-ups that feel intimate rather than invasive. Each scene is staged well, and the actors look like they’re actually enjoying themselves. Check out this clip of Darcy and Rachel “pushing it”. Cute, right?

Then why am I not 100% in love with this movie? Okay, can we for one second drop the idea that the ending of Something Borrowed is a surprise? Of course true love wins in the end. But this movie, unlike any other “modern love story”, could have spun the traditions of the genre and come up with something truly fresh and entertaining. Instead, they rely on the same old romance clichés we’ve seen over & over. The True Love, the Snag, the Big Reveal, the Big Problem, and the Perfect Solution. Very cute, but only because the dialogue is so believable and the actors are so engaging. That makes the point of the story – just accept the person you love even if that person let you down big time – a whole lot easier to swallow. But after the initial joy of watching Something Borrowed began to dim a bit, that unsettling point stuck with me. Not because of the cheating/best-friend bashing that occurs, but because Dex, the man-candy everybody wants, never seems to never quite make a decision for himself. He sways, he sticks around, he seems kinda into it…but there’s never the big reveal of a One True Love that makes all the cheating and covering up come out okay. Instead, when they walk off into the sunset, I felt creeped out instead of satisfied. No, scratch that; I wanted her to be running to Ethan instead. Probably not the ending Something Borrowed wanted me to think about, but it was there all the same.

At the end of Something Borrowed, as the credits roll, there’s the now-typical “surprise scene” after what has usually been the end of the movie. This scene hints at a possible sequel, something that is altogether possible since Something Borrowed is part of a series of novels by Emily Giffin. I hope that if another movie gets made, that they’ll have the same cast…but a more modern spin on the classic fairy tale.

While most studios have closed their wallets for the year, as far as development spending goes, Paramount recently spent $2 million to purchase a pitch from writers Aline Brosh McKenna and Simon Kinberg.

Nothing has been revealed about the film’s plot, but with the two writers coming from very different backgrounds genre-wise, this information will be anxiously awaited.

McKenna’s writing has generally leaned towards the ‘chick flick’ category, with such films as The Devil Wears Prada and 27 Dresses to her name. Kinberg, on the other hand, tends more towards the action-drama side of things, with Mr. and Mrs. Smith and X-Men: The Last Stand both to his credit.

With such different areas of expertise, it will be interesting to see how the two writers managed to fuse their respective styles into something Paramount was so eager to snatch up.

McKenna and Kinberg worked with Bad Robot Productions execs J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk  to sharpen the material before passing it on to Paramount, and the film will be produced under the Bad Robot name, with the company’s film chief serving as executive producer.

Well, what can I say, if you are a Sex and the City fan, you will love the movie!

Carrie, Miranda, Charlotte and Samantha are back and bigger than ever and do I mean bigger. The laughs, the outfits, the stories, all bigger than real life in that “Sex and the City” way.

This movie picks up right where an episode would have. What a great movie with lots of laugh out loud moments. The critics and the audience were laughing all the way through this one.

We pick up with Carrie and Big, Miranda and Steve, Charlotte and her little adopted daughter, and of coarse Smith and Samantha in L.A.

Carrie and Big take steps to plan the wedding that Carrie has wanted for a long long time. Miranda and Steve go through some pretty rough times, and Smith and Samantha realize things may not be what they are cracked up to be. Lets not forget about Charlotte and her gorgeous adopted daughter and hairy hubby Harry.

I would like to point out that the movie runs long. This should not stop you from seeing it but it may be a “girls” night out type of flick. I would hesitate to say this will make a ton of cash as it may only hit up the cult following of the show. It may not have a large reach on the mainstream audiences. I would put it up there at number 3 or 2 on the list but not knocking off Iron Man or Indiana Jones.

Guys be warned if you are a little squirmy when it comes to seeing other “man parts”, this is rated R for a reason. Yes there are some pretty nice boobs in the film, but it is a chick flick at heart and definitely hits the nail on the head!

The wife said it best… “If you watched the show you will love it, if you are a guy you may get a few laughs out of it, if you didn’t and you get dragged along by your girl you will definitely see some boobs and possibly get lucky at the end of the night for at least trying!”

I would recommend this to the friends, but probably as a rental due to the 2.5 hour running time.

Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆