REVIEW - BACHELORETTE

A shameless retread of Bridesmaids in which the filmmakers evidently believe that their confidence can a good movie make. It cannot. Every element of this film has been so specifically considered and defined and constructed that the whole film loses the spontaneity and brio for which Bridesmaids is famed. The dialogue has such heft that every time a joke lumbers into earshot, the actors have to prepare themselves for the oncoming linguistic onslaught, ever aware that these are JOKES and they have to TRY to be FUNNY. If Leslye Headland's screenplay is a misjudgement, though, her direction is an incompetent muddle - she seems unsure of whom and when and what in even the most basic of scenes. Were the scenario any more complex, the plot would be impenetrable, and, when one unscrambles this mess of random characters and motivations and occurances, it's as simple a plot as they come. There's no clarity; it's only in hindsight that one realises what any of it was about at all. The only moments of such realisation that occur during the film are when its blatant unoriginality rears its ugly arse and greets you with a slap in Kristen Wiig's face. In its latter half, these similarities increase in number, which is a shame as the film is beginning to improve by this point - it springs into life out of nowhere and accelerates and accelerates, finally deciding upon a pace (frantic), rather than jolting between several, and a tone (callous). The callousness might be the best thing about Bachelorette. It's much funnier than any of the actual HUMOUR and lingers nastily like it ought to - when bulimia saves the day, it's a victory for bad taste. Leading us into battle, blind drunk and high as a kite, is Isla Fisher, content to let the other actors flounder in an unrewarding script and relish her few moments of scattershot comedic brilliance. Headland knows what she wants out of Fisher...unfortunately, it's not a lot though. Actually, Headland knows what she wants out of everything in this film, but confidence in bad material doesn't make it any better.