Bride Wars
| Bride Wars | |
|---|---|
 Promotional film poster | |
| Directed by | Gary Winick |
| Written by | Greg DePaul June Raphael Casey Wilson Karen McCullah Lutz Kirsten Smith |
| Produced by | Kate Hudson Matt Luber Alan Riche Peter Riche Julie Yorn |
| Starring | Kate Hudson Anne Hathaway Candice Bergen Chris Pratt Bryan Greenberg Steve Howey Kristen Johnston |
| Music by | Edward Shearmur |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
Release date | January 9, 2009 |
Running time | 89 minutes (not including deleted scenes) |
| Country | Template:FilmUS |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $30 million |
| Box office | $115,049,554 [1] |
Bride Wars is a Template:Fy American romantic comedy film directed by Gary Winick and written by Greg DePaul and June Raphael and Casey Wilson.[2]
The film stars Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen, Bryan Greenberg, Chris Pratt, Steve Howey and Kristen Johnston. A Hindi-language remake of the film is currently in development by 20th Century Fox.
Plot
Emma and Liv are best friends who have planned every detail of their weddings since they first witnessed a wedding at the Plaza Hotel. Therefore, they both have made it lifetime priority to be married in the same location.
The movie begins with the two women getting engaged at the age of 26. They then schedule their weddings with New York's most famous wedding planner, but due to a clerical error they're scheduled to have a wedding on the same day, June 6. A week of passive aggressive hostility passes before the two women make it clear that neither will compromise, especially after Liv tries to take advantage of Emma's passive nature and outrages Emma in the process. During this time Emma's fiancé, Fletcher, begins to show signs of being controlling.
The women both attempt to sabotage the other's wedding, including Liv making Emma's tan turn bright orange, Emma tampering with Liv's hair dye to make it turn Liv's hair blue-white, Emma showing up to Liv's bachelorette party to out-dance her, and Emma secretly sending Liv chocolate and lollipops to make her too fat to fit into her dress. Eventually, Emma and her fiancé get into an argument regarding Emma's manic behavior of sabotaging Liv's wedding and their friendship.
Both brides-to-be are then shown to be in the Plaza very shortly before they're due to be wed, separately. Right before Liv leaves to begin her march to the altar, she encounters Emma's father and receives his blessing; she regrets setting up a wild spring break CD to play at Emma's wedding. She sends her best man to replace the wrong CD with the right one, filled with childhood memories, but he does not do so, dropping the CD into a flowerplant and muttering, "You'll thank me some day."
Emma begins her walk down the aisle but stops when the footage of her spring break is shown. She loses her temper completely and tackles Liv after sprinting to the other section of the plaza. The two brides wrestle in their dresses on the floor while the rest of the room looks on, the people closest to the brides having decided it would be best to let the brides resolve the problem. After tussling Emma and Liv lie on the ground panting, and then make up almost instantly. Emma stands up and walks over to Fletcher who is upset at Emma's behavior. Emma tells Fletcher she is not the person he fell in love with and she is unwilling to change to stay with him. With that, the two tearfully call off their wedding. Liv's wedding resumes with Emma participating and, eventually, dancing with Nate, Liv's brother.
The movie picks up a year later when Emma and Liv meet up for "drinks", during which it's revealed that Emma married Nate. Emma and Liv also reveal to each other that they're pregnant and that their due dates are the same, March 3.
Cast
- Kate Hudson as Olivia "Liv" Lerner, a successful lawyer who is used to getting her way, and won't settle for anything else. She attempts to be perfect, ever since her parents died when she was a child.
- Anne Hathaway as Emma Allen, a middle school teacher who takes care of everyone, but forgets about having some time for herself.
- Candice Bergen as Marion St. Claire, New York's most sought-after wedding planner, to whom both girls turn when planning their wedding. She also serves as the narrator of the story.
- Chris Pratt as Fletcher Flemson, Emma's fiance. They met ten years prior to the film's events. Coincidentally, the co-write of Bride Wars, Casey Wilson's brother is also named Fletcher.
- Bryan Greenberg as Nathan "Nate" Lerner, Liv's brother. A young magazine writer.
- Steve Howey as Daniel Williams, Liv's fiance.
- Kristen Johnston as Deb: An obnoxious, lazy woman who is one of Emma's colleagues. She continually unloads her entire workload on Emma. She eventually becomes Emma's maid of honor.
- Michael Arden as Kevin, Liv's assistant at work, whom she recruits to be her "Mister of Honor."
- Casey Wilson as Stacy Kindred, another bride and client of Marion. Casey is also the co-writer of "Bride Wars."
- John Pankow as John Allen, Emma's dad.
- Paul Scheer as Ricky Coo, Doctor of Dance.
- June Raphael as Amanda, a friend of Emma and Liv's who gets married at the start of the film.
- Hettienne Park as Marissa, one of Emma and Liv's two closest friends.
- Lauren Bittner as Amie, one of Emma and Liv's two closest friends.
Production
Raphael and Wilson completed the shooting script of Bride Wars, from an original script by Greg DePaul,[3] before the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike began.[4] Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith also contributed to the screenplay.[2][4]
Some principal photography took place at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts.[5] Most filming occurred in Boston, Massachusetts, New York City, New York, and in Salem, Massachusetts.
Music
The score to Bride Wars was composed by Edward Shearmur, who recorded his score with a 77-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage at 20th Century Fox.[6]
Reception
Bride Wars has been met with negative reviews from critics. The film has received a 12% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 127 collected reviews.[7]
Manohla Dargis of the New York Times called the film "dopey if largely painless". She said that Hathaway's presence meant "that there’s a little acting in it, along with a few human emotions" and wondered what the film might have been if the writers had explored a potential lesbian subtext suggested by the opening scenes.[8] Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "How bad can a movie be, with Goldilocks Hudson and Cinderella Hathaway? So excruciating that Hudson's sunshine can't warm it and Hathaway's rose redolence can't mask its stink."[9] Ty Burr of the Boston Globe was disturbed by the film, claiming that it was "...a chick flick that makes its chick characters — and by extension its chick audience — look like hateful, backward toddlers, and there is something wrong with that."[10] Longtime BBC Radio Five critic Mark Kermode was notably harsh toward the film, going so far as to say that he would quit film criticism if Bride Wars did not end up in his list of 10 worst films of 2009.[11] As of September 1, he seems to be making good on his promise - he has updated with what he called "The Bride Wars Challenge" stating that so far, he thinks Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Marley & Me, Dance Flick, and Charles Dickens's England are worse than Bride Wars, and he asks his fans to suggest more films to his that they found worse than Bride Wars. [1]
In one of the few positive reviews of the film, Time critic Mary Pols wrote, "At least, and this is something to be grateful for, Bride Wars deviates from the usual wedding-flick routine of maids of honor who should be the bride (or groom). And even though the catfighting goes over the top, the notion that a passionate female friendship can turn ugly in a heartbeat is, sadly, realistic."[12]
Apart from negative reviews, the film has been nominated for 2 awards at the 2009 MTV Movie Awards. Anne Hathaway was nominated for Best Female Performance and it is also nominated for Best Fight. It also has several Teen Choice award nominations. (Anne Hathaway vs. Kate Hudson)[13][14]
Box office performance
In its opening weekend, the film grossed $21,058,173 ranking #2 at the box office.[1] As of May 26, 2009, it has made $58,715,510 in the United States and Canada, $55,982,521 in foreign countries and a total of $115,049,554 worldwide a success given its largely negative reviews.[1]
References
- ^ a b c "Bride Wars (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ a b Siegel, Tatiana (April 6, 2008). "Bergen hitches "Bride"". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ Fleming, Michael (November 12, 2006). ""Bride" nears the altar". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-09-04.
- ^ a b Fleming, Michael (December 6, 2007). "Hathaway hops on "War" path". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Cassidy, Chris (July 25, 2008). "Heard Around Town: The six degrees of Lizzie Borden". The Salem News. Eagle Tribune Publishing Company. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
{{cite news}}: Unknown parameter|coauthor=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Goldwasser, Dan (January 14, 2009). "Edward Shearmur scores Bride Wars". ScoringSessions.com. Retrieved 2009-01-14.
- ^ "Bride Wars". Rotten Tomatoes.
- ^ Dargis, Manohla (January 9, 2009). "Two Weddings and a Furor". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved January 11, 2009.
[I]t's too bad that [Winick] doesn't (or can't) venture down the more interesting avenues opened up in the screenplay ... The opener — a gauzy scene from childhood that finds Liv and Emma, dressed as a bride and groom, tenderly dancing with each other — and an adult catfight, which looks like a prelude to a kiss, suggest that there may be more to this friendship (and the fury underlying its rupture) than either the women or the movie can admit.
- ^ "Winsome Twosome Turns Gruesome". Philly.com. Retrieved 2005-05-26.
- ^ "Bride Wars Movie Review". Boston.com. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "Mark Kermode threatens to quit over Bride Wars". January 9, 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
- ^ "Bride Wars: One Bride Too Many".
- ^ "Best Female Performance".
- ^ "Best Fight".