Bridesmaids

Paul Feig’s 2011 film follows Annie, broke since her bakery closed, as she serves as maid of honour for her oldest friend Lillian and loses ground to Helen, the wife of Lillian’s fiancé’s boss. Money drives the comedy as much as jealousy: the fitting, the shower and the Vegas flight are all things Annie cannot pay for. Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, who met at The Groundlings, wrote it after Judd Apatow asked Wiig in 2006 whether she had screenplay ideas; Wiig says they worked on it four and a half years. Feig calls the scenes tightly written rather than ad libbed, the loose work done in rehearsal and alternate takes, and they banked so many jokes that some used in the trailers never reached the film. He cast Rose Byrne as Helen fearing the part would play too arch if a comic actor took it. There is an unrated cut alongside the theatrical one. At the 84th Academy Awards the film took two nominations and won neither: Original Screenplay for Mumolo and Wiig, Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy. A good fit if you want Helen played entirely straight, so the rivalry stings more than it amuses. Not for you if you come looking for the jokes you saw in the trailer.