Bride Wars
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Bride Wars is a 2009 American romantic comedy film directed by Gary Winick and written by Greg DePaul, June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson.
The film stars Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen, Bryan Greenberg, Chris Pratt, Steve Howey and Kristen Johnston.
Plot
Emma Allen (Anne Hathaway) and Olivia 'Liv' Lerner (Kate Hudson) are best friends who have planned every detail of their weddings, since first witnessing a wedding 20 years ago at the Plaza Hotel. Therefore, they both have made it a lifetime priority to be married in the same location in June.
The movie begins with the two women getting engaged at the age of 26. They then schedule their weddings with New York's most famous wedding planner, Marion St. Claire (Candice Bergen), but due to a clerical error they are scheduled to have a wedding on the same day, June 6 (3 and a half months later). A week of passive aggressive hostility passes before the two women make it clear that neither will compromise, especially after Liv tries to take advantage of Emma's passive nature and outrages Emma in the process. During this time, Emma's fiancé, Fletcher (Chris Pratt), begins to show signs of being controlling.
Both women attempt to sabotage each other's wedding, including Liv making Emma's tan turn bright orange, Emma tampering with Liv's hair dye to turn Liv's hair a shocking blue-white colour, Emma showing up to Liv's bachelorette party to out-dance her, and Emma secretly sending Liv candy to make her too fat to fit into her dress. Eventually, Emma and Fletcher get into an argument regarding Emma's manic behavior of sabotaging Liv's wedding and their friendship.
Both brides-to-be are then shown to be in the Plaza very shortly before they are due to be wed, separately. Right before Liv leaves to begin her march to the altar, she encounters Emma's father and receives his blessing; she regrets setting up a wild spring break DVD to play at Emma's wedding. She sends her assistant Kevin (Michael Arden) to replace the wrong DVD with the right one, filled with childhood memories. However, thinking that the DVD is for a prank, he does not do so, dropping it into a flowerpot and muttering, "You'll thank me one day."
Emma begins her walk down the aisle but stops when the footage of her spring break is shown. She loses her temper completely and tackles Liv after sprinting to the other section of the Plaza. The two brides wrestle in their dresses on the floor while the rest of the room looks on, the people closest to the brides having decided it would be best to let the brides resolve the problem. After tussling, Emma and Liv lie on the ground panting, and then make up almost instantly. Emma stands up and walks over to Fletcher who is upset at Emma's behavior. Emma tells Fletcher that she is not the same person he fell in love with 10 years ago and that she has now changed. With that, the two tearfully call off their wedding. Liv's wedding resumes with Emma participating and, eventually, dancing with Nate, Liv's brother.
The movie picks up a year later when Emma and Liv meet up for drinks, where it's revealed that Emma married Nate. Emma and Liv also reveal to each other that they are pregnant and that their due dates are the same, March 3.
Cast
- Kate Hudson as Olivia "Liv" Lerner, a successful attorney at Ropes & Gray who is used to getting her way, and won't settle for anything else. She attempts to be perfect, ever since her parents died when she was a child.
- Anne Hathaway as Emma Allan, a middle school teacher who takes care of everyone, but forgets about having some time for herself.
- Candice Bergen as Marion St. Claire, New York's most sought-after wedding planner, to whom both girls turn when planning their wedding. She also serves as the narrator of the story.
- Chris Pratt as Fletcher Flemson, Emma's fiance. Fletcher is an accountant and the two of them met ten years prior to the film's events.
- Bryan Greenberg as Nathan "Nate" Lerner,Liv's older brother who is in love with Emma.
- Steve Howey as Daniel Williams, Liv's fiance and a hedge fund manager.
- Kristen Johnston as Deb: An obnoxious, lazy woman who is one of Emma's colleagues. She continually unloads her entire workload on Emma. She eventually becomes Emma's maid of honor.
- Michael Arden as Kevin, Liv's assistant at work, whom she recruits to be her "Mister of Honor."
- June Diane Raphael as Amanda, a friend of Emma and Liv's who gets married at the start of the film.
- Casey Wilson as Stacy Kindred, another bride and one of Marion St. Claire's clients.
- Paul Scheer as Ricky Coo, dance choreographer who calls himself "The Doctor of Dance"
- John Pankow as John Allen, Emma's dad.
- Hettienne Park as Marissa, one of Emma and Liv's closest friends.
- Lauren Bittner as Amie, one of Emma and Liv's closest friends.
- Billy Unger as Additional voices
