Bachelorette is about 3 old friends (Caplan, Dunst, Fisher) who reunite on the eve of another high school friend’s (Wilson; Bridesmaids) wedding. While the bride sleeps, the three friends get into a variety of drug induced trouble and also encounters with the groomsmen, who are also friends and lovers from high school.

I was super excited about Bachelorette. I’m a huge fan of Lizzy Caplan and Adam Scott. And them being together here is like a mini Party Down reunion on it’s own. And although my existing fandom does color it, they are each by far the highlights of the film.  One of the first things you need to know before seeing Bachelorette is that it’s not a Bridesmaids rip-off.  In fact it’s oddly dramatic and feels a little more Rachel Getting Married than anything else if I were forced to make a comparison. It’s this drama/comedy dynamic that I found to be the main problem with the film.  It has some real tone problems and goes from riotous laughs to deep drama in a very awkward way.

They did do a great job by filling the entire movie with a really great cast.  For a movie with a name like Bachelorette, there’s a lot of time devoted to the men in the bachelor party, which is actually great because they’re both important to the plot, but you also get some wonderful stuff from them.  They give another perspective on our main women. And every single one of their performances is great.  James Marsden does an incredible job with more of a dicky character than you’re used to from him.  Adam Scott really is just one of the great comedic actors of his generation who’s also capable of strong drama. Kyle Bornheimer’s character is sort of relateable as a good guy trying to hang in there with a girl who’s way too much for him.  And groom to be Hayes MacArthur really makes you buy his love of his fiancee.

Then we have the women.  No less equally great.  Isla Fisher is basically playing pure comedy the whole time and she’s great at it. Lizzy Caplan is the tough girl and she pulls every scene off impeccably and shines in the role.  It also doesn’t hurt that she has all the best dialogue and scenes.  Some highlights from her are her first scene, her plane scene, the two types of guys (based on My So-Called Life), and the way she wakes up.  Rebel Wilson plays a very different role than in Bridesmaids and really does a wonderful job as the bride.  And then there’s the not so great Kirsten Dunst.  I should be very clear that I actually usually really like Dunst but I felt she was miscast here.  She’s supposed to be the put together/uptight/bitchy one but I just felt she wasn’t right for this exact role.  There are moments where she’s good but for the most part I felt like maybe someone like Christina Ricci might have been a better get for this role.

The writing is pretty good, especially the dialogue.  The overall plotting and pacing isn’t so wonderful. I do feel like if you’re in your late 20′s-early 30′s there’ll be a lot going on here that will resonate with you.

Overall I do recommend checking this out for it’s good parts, but don’t expect to be blown away.  It falls short of the great mark, and is just OK.  Still check it out. As of this writing it’s available to rent from iTunes and most VOD providers (like Amazon
). It will be in theaters soon as well.