Brides Maids (Blu-Ray 2011)

Women are loyal, that’s why they agree to be maids of honor even though the experience is always expensive and rarely much fun. Failed cake shop owner Annie (Kristen Wiig) is broke and pretty miserable when her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), announces she’s engaged.  Depressed Annie quickly finds herself attached to an eclectic group of whack-job bridesmaids and vying for Lillian’s attention with the annoyingly beautiful, talented and wealthy Helen (Rose Byrne).

We snatched up a Blu-Ray copy of Brides Maids when it came out on Tuesday. Why?

Well, because of Melissa McCarthy for one . . . the funniest, most memorable, unusually confident oddball to come along since Zach Galifianakis roofied most of the wolf pack in The Hangover or John Goodman refused to roll on the Shabbos in The Big Lebowski. (Okay, that was pushing it. The Big Lebowski is an unparalleled cult classic with an ensemble cast of scene stealers and we not only purchased its recently released Limited Edition, but also have “The Dude” set as our cell ringer.) Anyway, modeled as a female version of Guy Fieri with a random wrist brace and an intense interest in self- defense, McCarthy’s Megan in no way resembles the attractive, rationale character she plays on the television sitcom Mike & Molly, making Megan’s suggestion of a female Fight Club–themed shower and aggressive advances toward a fellow flight passenger (real-life husband, actor Ben Falcone) she believes to be an air marshall, that much more brilliant.

Then, there’s the unforgettable trip to the bridal store while exhibiting symptoms of food poisoning. But the bathroom humor (who can ever forget wedding gown-clad Maya Rudolph sinking in the middle of a city street) and sneak peak at female friendships is paired with an awkward journey of self-discovery.

Finally, we’re fans of the incredibly charming Chris O’Dowd (who hit our radars in the British sitcom, The IT Crowd), Annie’s love interest, the polar opposite of her narcissistic f*ck buddy played by Mad Men’s Jon Hamm.

The DVD is crammed with digital extras from a slew of deleted scenes and alternate ad libs to an entire blind date sequence featuring Paul Rudd. There’s so much material it becomes apparent that, edited differently—substituting a few line reads, adding in a few roommate scenes—Brides Maids could easily have been an entirely different, but equally funny, film.