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BRIDE WARSMovie Reviews
Romantic comedy about two best-friend brides who go head-to-head when they find they've scheduled their wedding dates on the same day. Cast:Anne Hathaway, Kate Hudson, Candice Bergen, Kristen JohnstonDirector:Gary WinickRelease Date:January 9, 2009DVD Release:April 28, 2009From:20th Century FoxRating:PGLength:1 hr. 29 min.
Bride Wars played to weak reviews. • Christy Lemire wrote for the Associated Press, "...clichéd comedy tosses out stereotypes about female materialism and cattiness with all the giddy gusto of a newly married woman flinging the bouquet at her single girlfriends." • And Tom Maurstad wrote in the Dallas Morning News, "...not just witless and boring, it's insulting." More Reviews Below...
Leah Rozen, People: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "The modest pleasures the comedy offers are due primarily to a lovely, tremulous performance by Hathaway and occasional welcome flashes of wit that sneak through..."(See all of Leah Rozen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 176 words, 01/08/09
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: MODERATE(cg) "...pretends to be a satire of wedding mania, but since there's virtually nothing else to the movie, the satire comes depressingly close to endorsement."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 262 words, 01/09/09
Christy Lemire, Associated Press: POOR(cg) "...tosses out stereotypes about female materialism and cattiness with all the giddy gusto of a newly married woman flinging the bouquet at her single girlfriends."(See all of Christy Lemire's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 574 words, 01/08/09
Thelma Adams, Us Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "It's a treat to watch two stars with such A-list comic chops, and the bridal porn -- visits to Vera Wang! wedding-cake tastings! -- rivals 'Sex and the City'..."(See all of Thelma Adams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 151 words, 01/08/09
Claudia Puig, USA Today: POOR(cg) "...the movie goes all soft at the end. Unless skirmishes in the bridal registry department sound like fun, opt for peaceful resistance to 'Bride Wars.' "(See all of Claudia Puig's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 121 words, 01/09/09
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (10 Reviews)
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: WEAK "...dopey if largely painless... as inconsequential as almost every other Kate Hudson movie of the last decade. Happily it's also something of an Anne Hathaway movie..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 965 words, 01/09/09
Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: POOR(cg) "...it would be depressing to think that people like this might actually exist. But it's also a little depressing to think that movies like this actually exist..."(See all of Elizabeth Weitzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 479 words, 01/09/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "When the pratfalls fail -- a particularly cringe-worthy full-body tackle in tulle comes to mind here -- it's painful for the audience and demeaning for the actors."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 914 words, 01/09/09
Lou Lumenick, New York Post: POOR(cg) "Candice Bergen seems intensely bored as the wedding planner... As for the bland actors stuck playing the hapless grooms, we'll spare them further embarrassment."(See all of Lou Lumenick's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 444 words, 01/09/09
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: WEAK(cg) "Guaranteed to stoke your recession-racked class envy into a raging bonfire... barely rouses itself to deliver a joke, and its sense of upper-middle-class privilege feels smug."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 568 words, 01/09/09
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: MODERATE(cg) "Imagine one of those claws-out reality shows, like 'The Bachelor,' only without the self-awareness. Better yet, imagine a disempowering 'Mean Girls.' "(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 311 words, 01/09/09
Rick Groen, Toronto Globe & Mail: POOR(cg) "My, but how the fur flies when the female bond comes unglued.... The film is hell at its most banal -- like watching a dull sitcom with a broken remote."(See all of Rick Groen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 694 words, 01/08/09
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: POOR(cg) "Predictable, lazy and as overprocessed as Kate Hudson's hair... possesses a deep nasty streak, making it loathsome when it might have been merely annoying."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 398 words, 01/09/09
Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic: WEAK(cg) "When it comes to the stars, Hathaway is the better of the two. She's feisty and charming... Hudson is starting to look and sound exactly like her mom..."(See all of Randy Cordova's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 426 words, 01/09/09
Reyhan Harmanci, San Francisco Chronicle: MODERATE(cg) "...isn't a complete disaster.... finds fertile ground to mock but spends too much time in the trenches of slapstick warfare to deliver any really stunning takedowns."(See all of Reyhan Harmanci's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 763 words, 01/09/09
Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer: WEAK(cg) "How bad can a movie be, with Goldilocks Hudson and Cinderella Hathaway?... Hudson's sunshine can't warm it and Hathaway's rose redolence can't mask its stink."(See all of Carrie Rickey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 566 words, 01/09/09
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: WEAK(cg) "...a chick flick that makes its chick characters - and by extension its chick audience - look like hateful, backward toddlers, and there is something wrong with that."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 634 words, 01/09/09
Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: POOR(cg) "It's apathy incarnate. It's the Bride of Floppenstein, a C-minus, a soggy, sad thing floating in a lukewarm limbo of sentimental mediocrity."(See all of Colin Covert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 439 words, 01/09/09
Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: WEAK(cg) "That poor Vera Wang gown has to carry the movie, and that's too much to ask of any dress. Right now, the Wang is probably calling up the green gown from 'Atonement'..."(See all of Moira Macdonald's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 527 words, 01/09/09
Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "If you're a fan of Hudson or Hathaway, 'Bride Wars' will probably leave you smiling. If not, it just might leave you cold."(See all of Calvin Wilson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 318 words, 01/09/09
Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: POOR(cg) "...like a tossed wedding bouquet that never comes down, fluffy enough to float into the ether. The disappointment that would cause is nothing compared to the movie."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 336 words, 01/08/09
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: WEAK(cg) "...directed by a man. Another man came up with the story. No matter that women pitched in and tried to inject a little estrogen... It's still a patronizing comedy..."(See all of Roger Moore's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 468 words, 01/09/09
Connie Ogle, Miami Herald: POOR(cg) "...an insipid comedy in which the women are shallow, acquisitive, backstabbing, selfish harridans, and the men who agree to marry them are blank slates..."(See all of Connie Ogle's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 556 words, 01/09/09
Michael Sragow, Baltimore Sun: POOR(cg) "Gary Winick shows little of the knack for true emotional detail or rounded fable and none of the talent with performers that he displayed in 'Tadpole,' 'Charlotte's Web'..."(See all of Michael Sragow's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 747 words, 01/09/09
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post: WEAK(cg) "...wanly tries to build a case for their two very different, yet complementary, personalities... The filmmakers make thankfully swift work of the tale..."(See all of Lisa Kennedy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 651 words, 01/09/09
Betsy Sherman, Boston Phoenix: POOR(cg) "A vehicle for high-end product placement disguised as a 'frenemy' comedy... it's chixploitation at its creative nadir (and that's low)."(See all of Betsy Sherman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 163 words, 01/15/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: WEAK "...dopey if largely painless... as inconsequential as almost every other Kate Hudson movie of the last decade. Happily it's also something of an Anne Hathaway movie..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 965 words, 01/09/09
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: WEAK "...whenever something is funny, or meant to be, the sound track signals the event with a helpfully puckish passage of plucked strings. No cues are needed..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 365 words, 01/09/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "When the pratfalls fail -- a particularly cringe-worthy full-body tackle in tulle comes to mind here -- it's painful for the audience and demeaning for the actors."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 914 words, 01/09/09
Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter: POOR "Gary Winick fails to establish rhythm... Situations don't really build; they just happen. He directs his actresses to play the same level of frustration and rage."(See all of Kirk Honeycutt's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 635 words, 01/09/09
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: WEAK "When the pratfalls fail -- a particularly cringe-worthy full-body tackle in tulle comes to mind here -- it's painful for the audience and demeaning for the actors."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 914 words, 01/09/09
Manohla Dargis, New York Times: WEAK "...dopey if largely painless... as inconsequential as almost every other Kate Hudson movie of the last decade. Happily it's also something of an Anne Hathaway movie..."(See all of Manohla Dargis's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 965 words, 01/09/09
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: WEAK "...whenever something is funny, or meant to be, the sound track signals the event with a helpfully puckish passage of plucked strings. No cues are needed..."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 365 words, 01/09/09
15.1 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Bride Wars's reviews are separated by an average 15.1 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Bride Wars (35 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Bride Wars's reviews cover 66.2% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 16,362 words involume (average is 20,172 words). Length:The film's reviews average 468 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 10.1 Hours Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Bride Wars's reviews on average broke 10.1 hours before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Bride Wars's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Bride Wars (35 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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