Thursday, January 8, 2009

Wedded to mediocrity


Contrived as it is unconvincing, "Bride Wars" casts Kate Hudson (the aggressive one) against Anne Hathaway (the pliant one) as long-time friends who have a falling out when their weddings accidently are scheduled for the same day. Candice Bergen signs on as a wedding planner and each of the brides has a husband-in-waiting. Forget the supporting players, though: The comedy revolves around Hudson and Hathaway, who spend most of the picture bickering and battling. Nothing needs to be said about this preposterous, bubble-headed comedy, aside from the fact that it's preposterous and bubble-headed. Hathaway has been talked up for an Oscar for her work in Jonathan Demme's "Rachel Getting Married," a wedding picture in which she played a very different kind of character, a recovering druggie with a penchant for self-destruction. Demme liberated something in Hathaway; director Gary Winick ("13 Going on 30") puts Hathaway's genie back in the bottle for this painfully prolonged attempt at comedy.

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