Bridesmaids

First Hit: A few good laughs lying on pointless dialogue while being nudged by gross behavior for effects.

The first thing that stuck me about this film was that the only character that I felt was honest and worth connecting with was a male.

Now maybe this is because I’m male, but even my girlfriend said the same thing unprompted. Rhodes (played by Chris O’Dowd), playing a police officer, was kind and centered. In fact he was the only kind centered character in the film (outside of the guy who fixes Annie’s car).

Everyone else was either unlikeable or someone who was difficult to relate to. Annie, (played by Kristen Wiig) is having a tough time in her life. She lives with two Australian siblings who have little or no touch to reality (“At first I thought your diary was a handwritten novel” – are you kidding, no one is that stupid).

Annie works in a jewelry store as a clerk, but her sarcastic attitude scotches every sale. Her car is beat up, missing two working tail lights, and is run down. She once owned a bakery but it failed and we don’t know why. “And hell will freeze over before” she moves in with her mom (we never know why). And on top of this she sleeps with a creep who uses her for sex, she knows it, and doesn’t bother to hide that this disappoints her yet she still sleeps with him whenever he calls (she’s his “Number 3”).

This film makes the mistake most films Judd Apatow makes, no real character mining. Nothing to get me engaged in who the people on the screen are. It is almost like he says; “throw a bunch of shit on the wall to see what sticks.” I didn't care about Annie. I almost couldn’t care about her best friend Lillian (played by Maya Rudolph) because she knew damn well what she was doing by playing Annie off of Helen (played by Rose Byrne) but Lillian was, overall, a sweet character.

The other Bridesmaids where caricatures of people we may or may not know. There was no development of any one of them except Megan (played by Melissa McCarthy) who was one of the grossest characters in the film. Lastly this thing was over two hours long and it needed to be edited by at least 30 minutes.

I know that they team that put this together had a whole listing of jokes and skits they wanted to put in this film to make it funny, but someone forgot the pruning shears.

Wiig couldn’t and didn’t create a character worth caring about. She was playing a role and didn’t let her intelligence see that she needed to develop and sell the audience on someone worth watching. She failed in this task miserably. O’Dowd was perfect in his part and created the only sensible person in the film. He was good. Rudolph was OK, but this role was one she could do in her sleep. There was nothing here to really care about because it wasn’t believable that she was so easily pulled away by Helen’s obvious trivial pursuit. If her life-long friendship with Annie was real, she wouldn’t have acted this way. Byrne was OK as the snotty, have too much money and time, bitch that needed to be the center of attention. However, “so what”? I couldn’t care less about why she was the way she was. Her big scene to lay it all out was un-evolving and uninspiring. McCarthy was simply gross in her character and unbelievable in role, however she did attempt to create a moment of caring when she goes to Annie’s house to try to get her out of her doldrums. Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote this wasteful script. Paul Feig directed this and needed to toe the line about how much garbage went into this film.

Overall: Not worth seeing this at any point in time – it’s just a bad film.

Adam

First Hit: Well acted and a truly wonderful little film with a beautiful story of love and growth.

Asperger’s syndrome is a major player in this film as we, along with Beth (played by Rose Byrne), get to learn what it’s about and how to understand someone who has it.

Briefly; people affected have difficulty in social situations, have little empathy for another, may not know what a joke is because everything is taken literally, likes routines in everything and is preoccupied with a few very specific interests.

This is a key element in this film and the filmmakers create direct and real events to share this information with the audience. Hugh Dancy plays Adam a young man in his early 20’s who is an electrical engineer and has Aspergers syndrome.

At the beginning of the film we see him at his father’s funeral and, as Adam goes back to his now empty apartment, we see him simply going about his life. A young girl named Beth moves in upstairs and she is direct letting Adam know she would like to know more about him.

Adam, doesn’t get the hint very well, but as they speak and get to know each other a little better, Adam becomes more bold. At one point, Adam openly and naively states he was sexually aroused. Here is the moment the filmmakers use to begin the explanation of Asperger’s syndrome.

As Beth learns more she continues to be intrigued by this very real, almost childlike man, who enjoys her company. As their relationship develops, her father Marty (played by Peter Gallagher) tries to dissuade her from Adam because he is not good enough for her.

However Marty’s got problems of his own and there is some wonderful spot on acting by Amy Irving as Marty’s wife Rebecca as these problems come to light. As Adam and Beth's relationship grows and contracts, both of them learn about their life and what it takes to move forward. I thought then end scene was particularly heartwarming.

Hugh Dancy was spectacular as Adam. Not once did I not believe he was the character as he pushed the boundaries of Adam’s limitations. Byrne was sweet and complex enough to make Beth a critical and strong proponent of Adam’s evolution. Frankie Faison as Harlan, Adam’s dad and Adam’s friend, was beautifully strong, sincere as he guided Adam in some of his difficult steps. Irving was joyous to see on the screen again and in her brief appearances delivered critical comments and looks which spoke realms into the dynamics of love. Max Mayer both wrote and directed this wonderful film with empathy, kindness and mindfulness.

Overall: A truly wonderful film from beginning to end mostly because of Dancy’s acting and the cast’s commitment to make this film honest.