A lot of people like to saddle Bridesmaids, fairly or unfairly, with the descriptor ‘The Hangover For Women’.

While exploiting a few of the group comedy elements pioneered by The Hangover to good effect, to suggest that this movie is somehow derivative would be a terrible mistake.

No ma’am, Bridesmaids is something entirely of its own. A shameless spectacle of debauchery and passive aggression that is quite possibly the most fun I’ve had with a movie for a long time.

Your second misconception might be that this movie is of more interest to women than it would be to men — I’ll admit the title alone inspired many reservations about how I would be spending the next 132 minutes. Fear not, most concerns of a distinctly male nature will be soothed with the opening gag.

Perhaps best known for the dubious ‘Schweddy Balls’ skit opposite Alec Baldwin, longtime Saturday Night Live cast member Kirsten Wiig, moves into the spotlight as writer and star of Bridesmaids.

Wiig’s biggest challenge is whether she’s ‘likeable’ enough for a lead role after the numerous bit-part sociopathic characters she has built a career on.

Wiig’s character Annie, lonely and soothing the heartache of her recently failed business venture, plays the underdog approach to capturing the viewer’s heart and succeeds quite well. Broke and demoralized, Annie is in a bad place in her life at the moment — doing what she can to keep her chin up.

She is overjoyed to be named her best friend Lillian’s Maid of Honour, played by fellow Saturday Night Live cast member Maya Rudolph.

But the one bright spot in Annie’s life is threatened when a fellow bridesmaid Helen (Rose Byrne) begins taking a lead role in the wedding planning details, one-upping Annie’s efforts and seemingly competing for the title of Lillian’s ‘best friend’.

Some erratic driving brings a love interest into the picture as officer Nathan Rhodes (played by Irish actor Chris O’Dowd). Rhodes takes an interest in the befuddled Annie and becomes a bit of a shoulder to cry on as events spiral comically downward. A well-written character, Rhodes grounds the movie somewhat, providing a way out of Annie’s self-loathing behaviour and allows her character to transform.

While this is a movie about one main character, the ‘buddy element’ needs to be mentioned. The bizarre cadre of personalities assembled — Annie, Lillian, Helen, Megan, Brynn, Rita and Becca — find their way into the kind of situations only the richly comic realm of wedding planning can provide.

Together this cast goes to places hitherto untread by the most daring of comedies.

Don’t miss this one.

 By Chris Marchand