With comedies like THE HANGOVER and BRIDESMAIDS having huge box office success, it’s only natural similar films would pop up shortly after. The latest to (sort of) fit that mold is BACHELORETTE. With an impressive cast that includes Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher, Rebel Wilson, and James Marsden, it seems like there’s enough going for it to where even a lackluster script couldn’t ruin the experience. Sadly the potential of the cast is the best thing about the project.
Our story begins with Regan (Kirsten Dunst) finding out about her friend Becky (Rebel Wilson) getting engaged to be married. This reunites their old high school gang of four, bringing Gena (Lizzy Caplan) and Katie (Isla Fisher) in as part of the wedding. While Becky is remembered as the awkward and overweight girl who hasn’t changed much, Regan is still the bossy and bitchy one, Gena is still the slutty one, and Katie still doesn’t know when to stop partying. The night before the wedding, Gena and Katie immediately snort cocaine, and Regan is already in bossy bitch mode with the wedding staff. In a careless moment, Regan, Katie and Gena accidentally rip Becky’s wedding dress – this happens while two of them are squeezing in the dress as the other jokes about taking a photo and tagging Becky in it on Facebook… in fact, just about every comment they make regarding Becky is rather demeaning and cold. Realizing the depth of their blunder, the tacky trio spend the rest of the night trying to find a way to fix the dress before the 7:30am start time. Their exploits take them to a strip club with the groomsmen, led by Trevor (James Marsden), and eventually things go from bad to much, much worse.
I admittedly wasn’t a fan of BRIDESMAIDS, though there’s no denying that film’s popularity. One of my biggest problems with it was the lead character (played by Kristen Wiig) was just sort of pathetic and unmotivated, and by the end of the film learns nothing and doesn’t really change – there was no character arc. Now imagine a movie that has three characters like that… BACHELORETTE is that movie. I was rather shocked to see that the three principal roles played by Dunst, Caplan and Fisher are all rather despicable characters from start to finish. Their attitude toward their engaged friend is rather offensive and deplorable. One could attempt using the argument that these three are just bitter that Becky is about to be married when each of their romantic lives are going nowhere, but that would only be effective if at some point they learned from their mistakes.
Each of the three leads gets a separate subplot as the story progresses. Regan is courted by the confident Trevor, and despite claiming she has a boyfriend who is too busy to be present, finds herself having an odd connection with the groomsman. Gena is still obsessed with her ex-boyfriend Clyde (Adam Scott), who now happens to be a groomsman, and may also be harboring some feelings for their abandoned relationship. Katie finds an unlikely guardian in another groomsman named Joe (Kyle Bornheimer) to look after her as she parties excessively, not realizing that he’s known her from their high school days. And then there’s Becky and her husband-to-be Dale (played by Hayes MacArthur), who are both shamefully underdeveloped roles. I wonder what this script started out to be, and if somewhere along the line it lost its heart.
While the performances are all effective and determined, the end result feels shallow and mean. Even the moments of “comedy” are too dark and shameful to be truly laughable. Are we supposed to think Katie getting so wasted she’ll screw anyone available, or overdosing to the point of almost dying is funny? Or Gena reminiscing about a failed pregnancy and relationship gone bad is amusing? And when Regan treats the wedding staff like crap at first, then continues to do it toward the end, are we meant to get a chuckle out of that? Is this movie supposed to be a comedy? I’m not even sure anymore. What I am sure of is unlike a similar film like THE HANGOVER, I don’t like the characters headlining this movie, and didn’t laugh nearly as much. That’s not to say THE HANGOVER is by any means perfect, but it’s a far better experiment than this. BACHELORETTE is like watching all the mean kids you hated in high school all grown up… and still being jerks.
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
I completely agree. Although, I personally found that the Lizzy Caplan character did in fact grow over the course of the film and also got the majority of the laughs. Either way, this is a pretty pathetic turn from such talented people.