It is very tempting (and appropriate, I think) to compare Bachelorette to Bridesmaids, as they are very similar comic exercises. I was not the biggest fan of Bridesmaids, but watching Bachelorette I can suddenly see its relative merits in a clearer light. Perhaps I was too hard on it in my earlier review? Maybe it is aging better than I thought it would?

Bachelorette has its moments, certainly. I love the fact that its central characters are all pretty horrible and mired in terminal disappointment with their lives, and I really like that it offers no excuses for this either. The main thing Bachelorette has going for it is Kirsten Dunst; as I have said many times on this blog, she is just dazzlingly fun to watch, both from her acting skill and her presence. This role is a bit limited for her (she kind of recycles a strange combination of Bring It On and Mona Lisa Smile) but she still makes the movie come alive; whatever dignity the film has comes from her performance. Ilsa Fischer has a few funny moments (mostly in the beginning of the film) and then she basically becomes quite annoying, with sporadic exceptions. The other chick (Lizzy Caplan) is good, but again these roles I’m talking about are extremely narrow exercises, even by the standards of this particular genera. The guys are all completely forgettable (including the incredibly charismatic James Marsden, unfortunately.) And Rebel Wilson’s role is really much smaller than you might imagine from the preview, not that I think she would have elevated the film much.

The thing about Bachelorette is that after a funny start that seems like it could go in a million cool directions, the humor quickly settles into two basic aveneus: raunchy sex humor and frenetic, running around cursing, “save the dress” humor. This is fine, of course, and made for a diverting evening at the movies. But in comparison, Bridesmaids is suddenly looking a little better as a comedy. Bridesmaids had several scenes where Kristen Wigg went on these comic riffs (attacking the big cookie, the airplane meltdown, the toast competition, the getting the cops attention scene) which were actually pretty funny, and her comedy was made even more effective by the expert performance of her foil (Rose Byrne.) It also featured that incredible scene after they all have lunch in the disgusting Brazilian restaurant. I would have to say that the humor in Bridesmaids, although not scintillating, was a step above the humor in Bachelorette, in funniness, in sophistication, and in variety.

Bridesmaids also had several other things going for it. It had a very sympathetic and likable male romantic lead (the policeman guy, played warmly by Chris O’Dowd.) It had a more interesting and satisfying plot progression. The bride, while not very interesting in either movie, was more of a real person in Bridesmaids. And I liked that Bridesmaids kept its sex humor above middle school level, something that Bachelorette was not completely able to do (the toast at the very end was pretty painful.)

Again, I’m not saying Bachelorette is not funny and enjoyable. I went to the movie in a terrible mood and I came out feeling better – that says something, I guess. It’s just that given a choice to rewatch Bridesmaids or Bachelorette I would pick Bridesmaids every time.