Bridesmaids (2011)

Kristin Wigg is probably the most promising female comedian to come out of Saturday Night Live since the 1970's. Here she anchors a Judd Apatow produced ensemble comedy, and if you read this blog you know I'm very much pro most anything Judd Apatow. Wigg's character Annie Walker is a down on her luck former bakery proprietor, whose childhood best friend Lillian Donovan (Maya Rudolph) has just gotten engaged, hence she is destined to be a bridesmaid. Lillian has an eclectic assortment of other friends, comic talents all, who are also to serve as bridesmaids. Chief among them clingy new friend Helen Harris III (Rose Byrne), a depressed and needy trophy wife. Annie and Helen have a kind of proxy war over Lillian, and comic hi jinx ranging from the effects of bad Indian food when trying on dresses, to a drunken plane flight to Vegas ensue. Of course being an Apatow production the gross out humor must be anchored in human pathos and is, and Annie gets a very charming love interest in the form of a Wisconsin State Highway Patrol office with an Irish accent (Chris O'Dowd). The strongest women's comedy I've seen in a long time. Forty-one year old Melissa McCarthy was kind of the films break out star. Verdict: Good

Note: This was Jill Clayburgh's last film.