If I hadn't been told about this film, I would have avoided it. The trailer and poster make it seem rubbish. Big fat weddings among the hyper-affluent and glamorous do not fill me with enthusiasm.
Although it's about a wedding the main character arc is a woman picking herself up after her small business goes bust in the recession. Part of that process is the woman stepping away from a demeaning sexual relationship (with Don Draper) but it's not a film where women spend their whole time struggling to get men. The big romantic struggle is between two women, over who will be 'best friends' with the bride. That's the conflict which drives the film.
And it's funny and quite harsh in places. Our hero is completely broke (though with some left over nice dresses) and trying to maintain friendships with women who are much more affluent than she is. One has to wonder if after the story finishes, they would ever see her again.
I think the film pulls its punches at the end. Two of the secondary characters begin a lesbian relationship, which is definitely the best thing for both of them, but this seems to just disappear. The final wedding is as gooshy and over-affluent as anything, and well maybe the bad taste is part of the point, but it seemed a cop-out to me.
But it's not an awful ending, and I really hope this is the first of a new wave of comedies which let women express themselves as funny human beings, like the old days. This could be a Katherine Hepburn film. Apart from, you know, the bit where the bridesmaid shits in the sink.
