COMEDY; 2hr 5min
STARRING: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne
Shock horror! From left, Rudolph, Wiig and Ellie Kemper
Kristen Wiig has a regular-gal look and a neat knack of tossing off her lines that makes her perfectly relatable as misfitting Annie. Single despite herself, Annie is a sublime cake baker with a failed business, no money and a newly engaged best friend (a motherly Rudolph as Lillian), for whom she is maid of honour. Hold on to your pew! As a maid of honour, Annie makes a terrific train wreck, messing up from day one, instantly locking competitive horns with brittle and refined bridesmaid Helen (Byrne), who is everything she is not, and ultimately alienating Lillian.
Each of the five maids loops her loop through the spotlight in director Paul Feig’s racy, savvy comedy, produced by Knocked Up’s Judd Apatow and zingingly scripted by Wiig and Annie Mumolo (who makes an hilarious mid-air appearance), but Wiig definitely has dibs on centre stage. And since we suspect from the start that the bounds of best-friendship will strain but never snap, the subversive buzz lies in watching her bottom out, battle her way back up and rip into etiquette parameters at every stumbling block.
