126, Bridesmaids

Every now and again a movie just comes out of nowhere that defies all possibility.  In a summer riddled with Blockbusters its always nice to discover a hidden gem that excites, tantalises and teases the senses with such precision that it just makes you step back and take a deep breath of disbelief.

Overshadowed by the "lads" equivalent, The Hangover II, I was expecting this to be a cheap imitation where the girls tried to play as loud and raucous as the boys.  But alas!! This time around - The girls definitely came out on top...

To say this is the funniest movie I have ever seen is a bold statement but lets define just what that means.  Did I laugh almost constantly throughout?...Yes.  Did I even laugh at the non-funny bits, just by thinking back to the funny ones?...Yes.  Did my ribs hurt so much at the end that I found it hard to draw breath?...Yes.  So, by definition of never having that experience with any other movie I have to hand on heart say that this IS the funnies movie I have ever seen.

But why?  What makes this stand out from the pack.  Well, the cast are amazing.  Kristen Wiig as the leading role is awesome.  Co-writer and heavily involved in production she owns almost every scene and handles the many awkward comedic moments with absolute brilliance.  Supporting Kristen are the other Bridesmaids, headed up by Karen (Rose Byrne) who plays the over indulgent new best friend of the Bride Lilian, played by Maya Rudolph.  For me though (and probably many others) its the "gross" out moments that get the biggest full blown belly laughs and they mostly come from the unbelievable antics of Megan, played by the brilliant Melissa McCarthy.

She manages to take you on a journey through this movie that involves straddling a sink (epic!) to puppy smuggling but with a true heart of gold, she is there to pick up the many pieces of peoples broken hearts and all you want to do at the end is say "Megan, be my best friend?"

The comedy comes in all shapes and sized from actual amazing one liners scattered throughout to the "trailer" wedding shop scene where food poisoning takes the lead role and the gaggle of girlie's find themselves in tears of pain (much to our amusement) and desperately trying to remain as lady like as possible - which they all obviously fail at!

Another small moment of genius is the very surprising appearance from Matt Lucas as the odd (does he do anything else better?) roommate of Annie's who along with his doppelganger sister (and owner of the worlds worst tattoo!).  They manage to take "awkward" to a whole another level.  Brilliant!

If you grew up in the 80's are are female then there are loads of lines here that will rekindle some amazing memories including the Wilson Pickett reunion at the wedding where the dancing involves acting out the song lyrics...come on, you all did it! (and this is acted out brilliantly from the Bride and her Matron of (Dis)-Honour, Annie).

Chris O'Dowd (The I.T Crowd, Gulliver's Travels) again turns in a stellar performance as the underwhelmed local copper and potential love interest of Annie who is the only one in this with his feet truly on the ground.

As for us guys - Do NOT let your women tell you this is a chick flick - I laughed almost as hard as my wife while watching this movie in a heavily "female" dominated cinema and I think us guys could easily miss out!  But don't.  This will have you rolling in the aisles from the opening scenes and sadly, puts the Hangover II completely to shame.

If that was the warm up then this is definitely the main course and you will be a fool to miss it.

Every ounce of this screams great comedy and I will be hard pressed to find a movie over the past decade that made me laugh as much as this did.

It will make you cringe, laugh, nearly cry and easily turn most peoples stomachs but, as a comedy - this year at least, its unrivalled and just goes to prove that boys don't have all the fun on Stag Do's - the girls easily put us to shame!!!

See this if...................................Girls rock!