The most important day of a woman’s life is not her formal, her promotion, or arguably even the birth of her child (although mothers would surely disagree). Fantasies about the white dress, the flowers of the bouquet and the bridal waltz song choice take precedence above all else even before any ring is placed on a finger. Wedding days are meant to be the most perfect day of a woman’s life – the first day of the rest of their lives. Unfortunately for some, the preparations for the big one come with complications – and when your best friend is the saboteur, how can you escape when they know you so well?

 

Immediately taken back to memories of childhood, Bride Wars plays out as a story complete with narrator, who we learn is wedding planner Marion St. Clair (Candice Bergen). Following the joint lives of Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway), we learn of their identical dream: to wed in June at ‘the Plaza’. Getting married at the same time is in sync with the rest of their lives as it’s easy to fathom that they’ve evolved as adults with much the same experiences. How they get there is testament to their personalities – Emma is patient, her job as a primary school teacher suggestive of her pleasing quality, while Liv is brash as a lawyer’s associate and practically forces the proposal from her fiancé Daniel (Steve Howey) just to keep up.From the beginning it comes across as wanting to be metaphorical; Emma running circles (literally and figuratively) around Liv and seeing the change in both women over the rite of passage journey an engagement is.

As the story moves along, their dream weddings have been booked – but to their dismay a mistake places them on the same day. Neither is willing to give up the date, showing the audience just how important this is to them emotionally (which appears slightly unhealthy even to the most romantic of women). There are three relationships tested throughout the film; not just of the two best friends, but the implications of the war towards the grooms-to-be. How they put up with it is a mystery – yes, most grooms leave wedding plans to the bride, but anyone can see by halfway through this film how ridiculous it all seems. It takes all of this ridiculousness with material vanity to change both of the girls, and as one engaged relationship bonds closer together, the other begins to crumble. The link comes through Liv’s brother Nate (Bryan Greenberg), who interacts with all parties for some form of civility and perhaps to get a little something for himself on the side.

Establishing shots of ever-beautiful Manhattan introduce us to most scenes, and stills of the girls complimenting Marion’s narration represent frozen moments in time, a nice metaphor to suggest what a wedding should mean to a bride and groom. The story and plot are fairly simple and director Gary Winick chooses not to do too much with editing. Worth noting is the lack of romantic scenes; while not necessarily marketed as a clean-cut film, the film centres rightly around the girls while the grooms-to-be take a backseat to the evolving drama. Further enhancing its appeal to the younger generation (the older too), the use of narration gives Bride Wars a real fairytale feel – it’s cutesy, but the bitch just saves it from being completely saccharine. It could’ve benefited from a bit more venom but both Hudson and Hathaway bring their beef to the table; once-married Hudson showing her comic and dramatic strength as Liv’s weaknesses become more apparent, while Hathaway’s strength comes from her comic scenes. She can handle both drama and comedy, but the hen’s night scene where she rips up the stage is her (and the film’s) best sequence. The best lines of the film are given to Candice Bergen, who adds strength to the film as the no-frills wedding planner. Always reliable, Bergen’s Marion impresses as the girls’ mother figure; her blunt admissions to Liv and Emma shatter their fantasy (but don’t deter them from the big picture).

Bride Wars is ultimately useful as a showcase of what marriages can do to friendships. Although the extremities are unrealistic, it still provides a fun ride through the duo of Hudson and Hathaway. It does have an energy about it… it doesn’t slow and the short running time is not wasted. Women particularly know the pressure of making sure the big day runs absolutely perfect, and the film comes to understand as we do that this course never does run smooth.

Conclusion:

Hudson and Hathaway share equal spotlight in a film that pokes fun at women’s insecurities as they prepare for the biggest moment of their lives. Cute and clean-cut, Bride Wars provides an enjoyable but forgettable outing.

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