‘Bride Wars’: Movie Review (Hollywood)

Cast: Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway

Direction: Gary Winick

Genre: Comedy/ Chick-flick

Bride Wars is a film that is bound to take you by surprise because it is not all that cheesy as its title. Of course there are those regular ‘chick flick’ ingredients (read gossipy bitchy women indulging in catfights) in it but at the end of the day the film entertains so what the heck. Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Hathaway) are best friends since childhood. Liv’s dominant and outgoing while Emma’s sensitive and subservient.

The differences in their personalities and love for each other bind them together until they find out they are to get married on same day, at same venue! Liv and Emma dream of getting married at the Plaza since childhood. Though all their life they share common friends, common engagement days, they are against getting married at the common venue on a common day. This all happens because of their wedding planner’s clerical error! Their respective spouses suggest a double wedding but the two best friends turn down the suggestion and prefer humiliating each other instead by trying every possible trick that could go against the other’s wedding. Liv makes Emma’s skin go orange while Emma dyes Liv’s hair blue, Emma gatecrashes Liv’s bachelorette party and steals her thunder while Liv starts a rumour that Emma is pregnant... all this a week before their wedding.

Their embarrassing pranks played on each other are neither funny nor engaging. What sets the film apart is the character sketch of its protagonists and the supporting cast’s performances. Emma’s paid ‘maid-of-honour’ and her bitchy sarcastic comments on Emma, Liv’s dominance failing to overshadow the vulnerable girl hidden inside, Emma’s incapability at changing her true forgiving self... women bored of their marriage, single women bored of their loneliness... the characters are identifiable and cute. Kate Hudson looks gorgeous but does nothing more than what she has done before and ditto with Anne Hathaway. No complaints as the actresses suit the characters they play. The friendship between the two which has shades of jealousy, love, envy, insecurity all in one makes the film look real in spite of its juvenile supposed funny moments. Watch it to get entertained and take your best friend along!