Bridesmaids - 5 stars out of 10

Bridesmaids - 5 stars out of 10

"Bridesmaids" was surprisingly good.  I enjoyed the film but am still struggling to get over the fact that it is often dirty for the sake of being dirty.  The prime example is the film's unnecessarily explicit opening sex scene.  I was on the verge of turning it off but Melissa McCarthy's Oscar nomination made me curious enough to leave the film on.  Once the characters establish themselves (without needing sex scenes to do so), they deliver a ton of laughs.  Even though everything goes wrong for Kristen Wiig (a la "The Hangover"), it is never so bad that the viewing experience becomes unpleasant.  Rose Byrne is beautiful and the two sides of her character (Helen)'s personality give the necessary amount of redemption to make her lovable in the end.  The Academy got it right by choosing McCarthy as the stand-out member of this cast.  She is hilarious and full of surprises, though some of that credit is due to the writers.  The story follows a logical pattern, doesn't go too far (though you might argue otherwise after the hysterical bathroom scene), and somehow avoids all predictability.  While it constantly borders on "too dirty" with its language, the characters and slapstick moments of "Bridesmaids" make it actually worth watching if you fast-forward the opening sequence.