Director: Leslye Headland.
Cast: Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, Adam Scott, James Marsden, Hayes MacArthur, Kyle Bornheimer.
Time: 87 minutes.
Certificate: 15.
Synopsis: On the night of one of their old high school friend’s wedding, three irresponsible and capricious bridesmaids reunite for one last bachelorette bacchanal in the Big Apple. They unintentionally create a mess of their best friend Becky’s (Rebel Wilson) wedding dress before she marries her sweetheart, Dale (Hayes MacArthur). They attempt to repair the situation by getting the dress to Becky on time before the wedding starts, whilst discovering themselves and what they truly want from their lives along the way.
Most bad films have the tendency to be largely forgettable, boring, or just plain underwhelming and not living up to pre-release hype. And then there are films like this that not only hit all those marks, but manage to take it just a tiny step further. BACHELORETTE came with quite a bit of buzz before it was released; the premise of a raunchy, female-starring comedy evoked memories of the far superior BRIDESMAIDS. The talent involved, with Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher and Lizzy Caplan leading the way, had a lot of promise, but sadly the whole thing ends up as an unfunny, unlikeable and at times deeply misguided film that fairly quickly makes you pray for it to be over.
If we stick with the BRIDESMAIDS comparison for just a second (besides the wedding-themed plot and Rebel Wilson appearing in both, they have nothing in common), the main difference between the two films is that the characters in BRIDESMAIDS are for the most part likeable, nuanced characters that you find yourself rooting for in the end. The vast majority of the characters in BACHELORETTE are so unlikeable that you find yourself wanting bad things to happen to all of them. They are also not funny, and unless you find bullying, incessant drug use and references to the whorish behaviour of Gena (Lizzy Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher) hilarious, then there really is not much to laugh at.
As far as character stereotypes go, we pretty much have them all, with precious few characters ever expanding beyond that mould. There is an exception in the storyline involving Gena and her ex-boyfriend, Clyde (Adam Scott), which starts off looking like a classic ‘woman-still-hung-up-on-her-ex-who-broke-her-heart-until-she-realises-she-doesn’t-need-him-anyway’ storyline, but instead takes a complete left turn and morphs into something touching and sweet. If the film had centered on these two people, the film could have been so much better, with the storyline almost winning you over and believing the film might redeem itself – until it chooses to play a suicide attempt for comedy in one of the most absurd scenes you will ever see, resulting in you giving up completely.
Overall, BACHELORETTE is the worst kind of film there is. It has a lot of potential, a decent premise and a good cast, but decisively botches pretty much every single aspect that could have made it good and instead ends up being an unreal mess of jokes that are not funny and characters you want to punch in the face. Especially you, James Marsden and Kirsten Dunst.
BACHELORETTE is released in UK cinemas on Friday August 16th.
