Maids of Dishonour
Um, um and er um is really all I can come up with after watching the vacuous experience which is "Revenge of the Bridesmaids" a romantic comedy of sorts which is an ABC Family movie aimed at teen girls. I say vacuous because this is an unoriginal romantic comedy about revenge which is neither funny nor romantic and is debatable whether teen girls will really find it that entertaining. It's not so much that it is bad or that it is incredibly cheesy but because it is so bereft of laughs that it is one of those movies which seem to happen and you take none of it in and struggle to remember it less than an hour later.
Abigail, Parker and Rachel (Raven-Symoné, JoAnna Garcia Swisher, Chryssie Whitehead) were childhood friends who put up with spoilt rich kid Caitlyn (Virginia Williams). Now twenty years later Abigail and Parker return to their hometown for a family occasion to discover that Caitlyn has somehow got her own way again and is marrying Tony (Lyle Brocato) who had been Rachel's boyfriend. Realising there is more to this marriage than there seems they set about not only trying to wreck Caitlyn's big day but getting Tony back together with Rachel.
So here we have a movie of childhood friends who spot an opportunity to get their revenge on Caitlyn McNabb, the spoilt kid who always got her way when they were growing up. Now as such "Revenge of the Bridesmaids" is simple Caitlyn has tricked Tony into marrying her because he thinks after a one night stand he knocked her up. The truth is that the McNabb's have wasted their fortune and Caitlyn has tricked Tony so she can leech of his wealth and Tony truthfully still loves Rachel. So we have Parker and Abigail, best friends of Rachel trying to ruin the wedding and prevent it from happening so Tony and Rachel can get back together.
The thing is that revenge movies can be good and one which sees a spoilt brat's wedding being wrecked is perfect for some major wreckage and histrionics but we get none. It is basically all very safe, far too safe with most of the humour meant to come from Abigail looking angry as she deals with the bitchy Caitlyn and her equally bitchy mother. But it is so dull, so unfunny that I can't even believe teenage girls even of a young age finding all the wedding wreckage funny. And if that wasn't bad enough as a romantic comedy there is little on the romance front, with just the smallest bit coming from Parker meeting Henry, a local lawman who fancies her.
Because most of the trouble with "Revenge of the Bridesmaids" comes from writing which just isn't very funny it is hard to be critical of the performances especially when you remember we are talking teen movie. But the truth of it is that whilst Raven-Symoné and JoAnna Garcia Swisher play the main pair of Abigail and Parker the most entertaining character is Rachel played by Chryssie Whitehead. Whitehead has this mix of being quirky and timid yet with a real dark side to her and it makes her interesting.
What this all boils down to is that "Revenge of the Bridesmaids" is in truthfulness neither funny nor romantic and just is very ordinary. Maybe young teenagers will find it amusing but it fails to really mine the rich vein of possibilities which presents itself with a storyline about bridesmaids trying to wreck a wedding.
