'Bachelorette': Kirsten Dunst leads a fine cast in another comedy about bridesmaids

Radius-TWCDude, I think they;re checking you out. From left, Lizzy Caplan, Kirsten Dunst and Isla Fisher.

By Stephen Whitty

Newark Star-Ledger

You know that TV show "The Bachelorette"? The confessionals, the filmed dates, the rose ceremonies? Trista? The whole trumped-up, teary, romance-novel fantasy?

This is so not that story.

"Bachelorette," the movie, is based on something else. Bad behavior, mostly. Also jealousy, lust and pride.

And booze. Lots and lots of booze.

"Bachelorette" is going to be dismissed as a rip-off of "Bridesmaids" -- the success of which made this movie possible, if not inevitable. But it's more like a gender-bent "The Hangover."

And it has its own charms, and its own problems.

It's based on first-time director Leslye Headland's play, and it divides its heroines into simple types. There's Regan, the controlling yuppie witch; Gena, the tough-but-vulnerable slut; Katie, the sweetly idiotic party girl.

REVIEW

Bachelorette

Who: With Kirsten Dunst, Isla Fisher, Lizzy Caplan. Directed by Leslye Headland.

Rated: R; contains brief nudity, sexual situations, drug and alcohol abuse, strong language and vulgar humor.

Running time: 91 minutes.

When: Opens Friday, Sept. 21.

Where: Capitol Theatre, 1390 West 65th St., Cleveland.

Grade: B-

And then there's their friend Becky, plain and simple and overweight, who is about to get married to a terrific guy. Becky has brought these three incredulous women back together to be bridesmaids at her big New York wedding. And that's where the trouble! starts.

Like "The Hangover," there is a drunken night-before-the-wedding disaster, which our three loopy heroines have less than 12 hours to fix. And there are some gross-out gags, bodily fluids and enough alcohol to send several livers straight into cirrhosis.

Some of it is funny, and all of it is well-acted, particularly by the women. Lizzy Caplan has a mordant wit as Gena; and as Katie, Isla Fisher's doll-like beauty-in-miniature actually helps soften the sleaze. She's like Barbie's brand-new friend, Drunkie.

It's Kirsten Dunst who really shines, though -- and, ironically, also throws the script's shortcomings into stark relief.

Hard-driving, sharp-edged, her Regan is someone who wants power, but also knows how to use it. She is supremely capable (even if much of what she gets done comes from screaming at underlings). The other women consider her a "great friend."

But what does she think of them?

Very little, I'd guess. Gena and Katie are jokes (broad ones, thanks to the script). Becky she treats, at best, as a big ungainly mascot. Yet they all seem happier than she is, and every so often the unfairness of that shows as a flicker in Dunst's icy eyes.

Sadly, Headland isn't brave enough to go all the way with that. Instead, she often tends to cut away from the drama -- to a strip club, to a drunk scene, to a dirty joke. The hit "Bridesmaids" actually showed more of life's messy competitiveness; Zach Galifianakis singlehandedly took "The Hangover" even further out on the edge.

So no, "Bachelorette" doesn't break the new ground those movies did, or take the risks it could (or seems to think it has). But its actresses, particularly Dunst, are terrific. Headland has a nice feel for music, too, and takes some editing risks.

And there isn't a single, sick-making rose ceremony in sight.