 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
Bride Wars
- Review Date: January 8, 2009
- PG
- Genre: Comedy
- 2009
Common Sense Media says
Wedding comedy amuses but has inconsistent messages.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that this comedy, while mildly amusing and generally age-appropriate for older tweens (who are sure to want to see it), plays up stereotypes about women with its emphasis on shopping, consumerism, and conflict between friends. The main characters are fairly two dimensional, and they seem much more caught up in having the perfect wedding than in having a strong marriage. That said, the language is mild ("ass" and the like), and the sexuality is on the milder side (kisses, a brief glimpse at a bra and panties as a character changes) -- though a bachelorette party scene includes shirtless male strippers. There is a notable amount of drinking (tequila shots, especially), and prominently featured brands include the Plaza Hotel, Apple, Tiffany, and Vera Wang.
What's the story?
Best friends since childhood, middle-school teacher Emma (Anne Hathaway) and high-powered attorney Liv (Kate Hudson), share one common dream -- a June wedding at Manhattan's storied Plaza Hotel. When both women get engaged the same week, they immediately hire the city's best-known wedding planner (Candice Bergen) to secure two dates in June. All is satin and lace until the brides-to-be discover that the Plaza accidentally booked both of their weddings for the same date -- meaning that one of them has to switch her venue, or they'll be hosting competing nuptials (guess which way things go?). For most of the movie, the lifelong BFFs turn into archrival bridezillas out to sabotage each other's weddings while their fiancés (Chris Pratt and Steve Howey) sit around looking helpless and confused.
Is it any good?
BRIDE WARS is more of the same romcom fluff that Hudson -- whose career high is still her early, Oscar-nominated role in Almost Famous -- has been stuck in since How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. Hathaway, however, has been getting more acclaim thanks to roles in grittier fare like Rachel Getting Married, so it's hard not to consider this wedding flick a major step down. Not that the target audience -- young girls and engaged women -- will care. Weddings and all their myriad details -- fondant cakes, designer gowns, letter-pressed invitations, personalized everything -- are a huge obsession for many women, and bridal junkies in the audience will definitely get their fix.
For what it is -- a 90-minute reverie for young girls who dream of the "perfect" (read: super expensive) wedding -- the movie does provide some laughs (like the scene portraying how Liv and Em's still-unmarried friends take the news of their double engagement), and even a message. Just what that message is, however, is debatable. On the one hand, there's the obvious idea that a wedding is worthless without the right groom and your best friend by your side. But there's also an inescapable sense that a wedding (or the marriage that follows it) isn't quite worth it unless it comes packaged in Tiffany blue.
Explore, discuss, enjoy
Families can talk about how the movie portrays its two main characters -- why do they make their weddings into such a big deal? Why can't they just have two separate ceremonies in different places?
What did trying to have a dream wedding cost Emma and Liv -- emotionally and financially? Is it a good message to send girls that everyone "deserves" a fancy wedding at the Plaza? Why are weddings such a big deal in general?
What role does the media play in making us think that the wedding is as important as the marriage?
Parents, talk with your tweens about what a wedding really signifies -- and what happens after the big day. The bachelorette party scene might also prompt a discussion about stripping. What's the appeal? Why does it play such a prominent role in movies/TV shows about bachelor and bachelorette parties?
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- Teens & kids
Teen, 13 years old
November 10, 2011
AGE
It was good but not for kids!
Overall, great movie to see with your girlfriends. But if you're thinking of letting your child watch it, think twice! The movie is overall not that inappropriate but there was a lot of drinking which doesn't seem to be a problem if you're kids are already around that or if it's okay to watch it.But the language is on and off, some of the actors may use words that for you are not okay for your children to hear, and the bachlorette party scene was not okay for kids to see in my opinion. But have fun with your friends and watch it with them!
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AGE
Bridal Supremacy To The Max
Bride Wars is truly a wedding comedy you will want to enjoy over and over. This is all because of Anne Hathaway, and Kate Hudson's performances. And the only reason this film bombed at the box office is because people don't understand that these short of wedding situations actually sometimes happen. So ignore the critics and give this delightful comedy a try!
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AGE
Bridal Supremacy To The Max
Bride Wars is truly a wedding comedy you will want to enjoy over and over. This is all because of Anne Hathaway, and Kate Hudson's performances. And the only reason this film bombed at the box office is because people don't understand that these short of wedding situations actually sometimes happen. So ignore the critics and give this delightful comedy a try!
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Adult
July 19, 2009
AGE
Shouldn't Be PG
I personally thought it was adorable, nonetheless fairly predictable...Although it should not have been rated PG. The dance scene at the bar and the bachelorette party stripper are not kid-friendly.
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Adult
March 6, 2009
AGE
No appropriate for tweens
I took my 12 yr old daughter to see this and it was the most embarrassed I have ever been. It was a cute movie till the bachellorette scene. Men dancing around in hot shorts with dollar bills haning out. Drinking and swinging on stripper ropes. Provokitive dancing, dress, and actions. That 5 minute scene ruined the whole movie.
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Kid, 10 years old
June 24, 2011
AGE
bride wars rocks
it is brilliant and will never no be good it is a true love stoy and that is what some people at the age of 10 like me like to be prepared for later in life when i watch more romantic one's when i am in my 30's!
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Kid, 11 years old
January 11, 2011
AGE
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Kid, 12 years old
July 5, 2011
AGE
Funny but stupid.
It was a pretty mediocre movie - nothing too special. It was quite funny. The sexual behavior wasn't that bad, but there was a stripper in the bachelor party and women dance in a provocative but no intense sex scenes happen. There is a funny cat fight scene which I laughed at openly. I was watching this with a few classmates and they were all like 'PUNCH HER!'.
The drinking is moderate but the brides and their friends get drunk at the bachelor party.
The language is pretty mild.
Overall, this is a funny but stupid movie.
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Kid, 11 years old
July 7, 2009
AGE
Bride wars is a cliched-driven mess
Bride wars was a complete waste of time and money. It was cliche, predictable, tedious, and boring. It starts out average at best, then immediately goes downhill. Despite maybe two or three funny scenes, the film is terrible on every level. Don't let the advertisements or trailers fool you. It's godawful. For sexual content, there is a scene that involves a male stripper (nothing sexual happens), but women dance provocatively. A woman is seen wearing a bikini at a summer beach party, but is partially crucial to the story. A guy says "I wish everyday would be take your hot girlfriend to work day". A man says "Your arrested for being too sexy". A man calls his girlfriend sexy multiple times. For violence, there's a brief "cat fight" but no one gets hurt or injured. For profanity, it's very raunchy for a PG film. The b word is used at least twice along with one anatomical and scatological term. There are positive role models and messages which is kind of the film's point.
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Parent
July 16, 2011
AGE
Ugh...
Pointless chick flick. Not for younger girls and boys will flee. I just don't see the point in teaching petty, ridiculous, selfish behavior that is displayed by two over-dramatic, caricatures of women.
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| Topics: | friendship |
| Studio: | Twentieth Century Fox |
| Director: | Gary Winick |
| Cast: | Anne Hathaway, Bryan Greenberg, Kate Hudson |
| Genre: | Comedy |
| Run time: | 90 minutes |
| Theatrical release date: | January 9, 2009 |
| DVD release date: | April 28, 2009 |
| MPAA rating: | PG |
| MPAA explanation: | suggestive content, language and some rude behavior |
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