Bridesmaids

Recent wedding comedies (Bride Wars, 27 Dresses) have been about as enjoyable as stepping on an upturned plug, but Paul Feig’s Bridesmaids emphatically breaks this cycle by choosing comedy chops over cheek bones. Co-writer Kristen Wiig, scene stealer extraordinaire in Adventureland and MacGruber, gets her first lead-role as Annie, maid of honour to BFF Lillian (Wiig’s fellow SNL alumnus, Maya Rudolph). She’s terrible at the job, partly because she’s a goofy disaster zone and partly because she’s being sabotaged by her rival for the position, Helen (Byrne), a socialite with a flair for event organisation and passive aggressive put-downs.

Like every film from the Apatow factory, it’s slightly too long. But that’s about the only niggle. Feig skillfully combines spiky one liners (“I’ve seen better tennis in a tampon commercial”) and rhapsodic comedy set pieces with moments of heartfelt tenderness. A disastrous dress fitting that builds to a scatological crescendo will have you crying with laughter, but the lived-in authenticity of Wiig and Rudolph’s performances might also bring tears. [Jamie Dunn]