Starring: Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson, Candice Bergen, Kristen Johnston
Director: Gary Winick
Category: IIA
Towards the end of Bride Wars, Anne Hathaway's character, the perennial pushover Emma, is challenged by her best friend Nate (Bryan Greenberg) for saying she's 'feeling fine' when her anxiety-stricken appearance definitely suggests otherwise. When he says saying 'fine' is not a genuine feeling, Emma breaks down, gushing about her exasperation of having to feud with her former best friend (and Nate's sister) Liv (Kate Hudson) and whether saying yes to her boyfriend's proposal was a mistake.
It's a short scene which is very unrepresentative of Bride Wars' essence: that is, the farcical lengths two young women go to for a Barbie-worshipping dream wedding. However, it's also a sequence which sums up Gary Winick's film well: It's a piece drowning in its own banality, offering only fleeting glimpses of real human emotions.
It's no coincidence such a moment revolves around Emma: Hathaway is perhaps the only saving grace here, but her brave turn is simply not enough to salvage the film from becoming an embarrassingly superficial piece of schmaltz.