Let’s get this out of the way right now: "Bachelorette," the new indie rom–com from writer–director Leslye Headland, adapted from her play of the same name, is not "Bridesmaids." Yes, the two do share a similar “B” title, and both center on the upcoming nuptials of the protagonist’s BFF. They also both feature the chronically under–used Rebel Wilson. Yet if "Bachelorette" owes anything to a girls–behaving–badly predecessor, it’s "Heathers," the seminal 1988 dark comedy in which a trio of teen girls rules its high school through intimidation, disapproval, and sex appeal. That movie laid bare the complex nature of female friendships and rivalries, and the struggle to remain on top. "Bachelorette" might well be the tale of these same girls 10 or 15 years later, circling 30, wondering whether to relinquish their hard–partying ways and strive for redemption. Despite an unsatisfying final act that tries to pair up each of the girls with largely underwritten romantic foils, "Bachelorette" checks any moralizing at the door and revels in its unlikable leads’ bad behavior. Over the course of the film, each member of the central threesome—Regan (a subtle and delicious Kirsten Dunst), Gena (Lizzie Caplan, who delivers one of the greatest blowjob monologues in recent memory), and Katie (Isla Fisher, ever the lovable ditz)—consumes enough cocaine to kill a mountain ox and shrewdly undermines her friends with knowledge of their embarrassing, painful secrets. No one feels the lash of the group’s wicked tongues more than bride–to–be Becky, outwardly embraced but mocked in private for her weight and bulimic past. By the end of the film, there is little promise of repentance or growth for the three ladies, even after all of the antics of their “one crazy night.” (A torn and bloodied wedding dress and impromptu strip club trip are involved—this is a wedding flick, after all.) The lack of easy resolutions may turn some viewers off, but it is what keeps "Bachelorette" so honest and biting. We may not like these women, but we certainly know them.
Directed by Leslye Headland
Starring Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan, Isla Fisher and Rebel Wilson
