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'Bride Wars' A Marriage Of Mediocrity

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By KEVIN WALKER

kwalker@tampatrib.com

Published: January 8, 2009

Updated:

Well, there's this: "Bride Wars" is not nearly as bad as it could be. Unfortunately, that still doesn't make it good.

That's the sort of mediocrity you get when melding a bunch of "chick flick" cliches with a paper-thin plot. There are actual laughs to be had, but you'll have to sit through quite a bit of sentimental pap to get there, as well as many scenes of people jumping up and down and hugging each other.

In fact, this film has raised "chick flicks" to a whole other level, where they don't even require men much at all. What little emotional tension there is in this film is between the two female leads, Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway, making a strange career move after a strong performance in "Rachel Getting Married").

Liv and Emma are childhood friends who share a common dream: Both want their weddings at the Plaza Hotel in New York City. Emma grows up to be a kind, gentle middle school teacher. Liv grows up to be a take-no-prisoners Manhattan lawyer.

Most of that information is presented in the opening minutes in a strangely awkward voice over by Marion St. Claire (Candice Murphy), who eventually will work as the wedding planner for both women.

When Emma's straight-laced boyfriend Fletcher (Chris Pratt) proposes to her, Liv bullies her boyfriend Daniel (Steve Howey) into proposing to her. Both men are then absent for most of the rest of the film, except for some poorly paced scenes where Fletcher and Emma fight and discover they might not be right for each other.

The dual proposals set the stage for Emma and Liv to visit St. Claire on the same day. And then, horror of horrors, they end up with the same wedding date in June - the only June date available for the next three years, naturally. At first, they agree to negotiate how they can work all this out - they are supposed to be each other's maid of honor, after all - but one misunderstanding leads to another.

Soon, the two are engaged in an underhanded battle to out do each other and attract the best guests, the best musicians, the best flowers, etc. They eventually engage in tricks to undermine each other, with Emma contriving to turn Liv's hair blue and Liv breaking into a tanning salon to ensure Emma gets a large dose, turning her orange.

Somewhat more amusing is Emma's plan to secretly get Liv to eat too much so she won't fit into her Vera Wang dress. "You don't alter a Vera Wang to fit you," a sales clerk tells Emma. "You alter yourself to fit Vera Wang." Or, as Emma's assistant, Kevin (Michael Arden) tells her to get her to stop eating: "Vera Wang is a harsh mistress."

Both leads have their funny moments, particularly Emma shedding her good girl image in a "dance off" and Hudson melting down in a business meeting. But this movie is about as predictable and vanilla as they come.

MOVIE REVIEW

Bride Wars *½

MOVIE BOARD RATING: PG-13; suggestive content, profanity, some rude behavior

STARS: Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergman

DIRECTOR: Gary Winick

LOCATION: See movie times, Page 10, for local showtimes.

PLOT SUMMARY: Best friends become enemies when their dream weddings at the Plaza Hotel in New York City are scheduled on the same day.

RUNNING TIME: 89 minutes

ON THE WEB: www.bridewars

.com

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