The New Classics: Bridesmaids
Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at 9:00AM 
Scene: Food Poisoning
Okay, let’s talk poop jokes.
If I’m hesitant it’s not because I’m squeamish, but because I’ve found dissecting jokes to see how they work to be one of life’s less rewarding endeavors. On the other hand, I’ve noticed Bridesmaids’ uproarious food poisoning sequence seldom gets the respect it deserves. Often it’s acknowledged with some glib and subtly condescending remark along the lines of, “Ladies can be just as gross as the boys!” and I think that significantly undersells the scene. I mean, If we absolutely must make sweeping generalizations along gender lines, we would have to conclude Bridesmaids proves ladies do gross-out with infinitely more wit and sophistication than the boys...
Nothing can torpedo a laugh faster than catching the filmmakers nudging the material toward a desired outcome, but writers Annie Mumulo and Kristen Wiig camouflage the ladies’ march to disaster so artfully in Annie’s (Kristin Wiig) escalating competition with Helen (Rose Byrne) that we never notice the fuse being lit for the later payoff. The sketchy meat place Annie takes them to works as a self-contained joke on Annie’s futile attempts to compete with Helen financially. So does the uber-fancy boutique, which also doubles as a dig at the excesses of the Wedding Industrial Complex. It’s such deft misdirection, I would reach up to the top shelf adjectives and pull down “exquisite” to describe the writing, maybe not the first word that comes to mind when you think of a red-faced Melissa McCarthy volcanically shitting into a sink, but I call ‘em like I see ‘em.
Compare that to similar bathroom emergency gags in American Pie and Dumb and Dumber, the setup to both of which features a character holding a bottle a laxative up for the camera and grinning mischievously.
What really elevates the scene from good to classic is that no matter how wild it gets, the ladies’ panic moves remain completely understandable. The logic tracks. When faced with a gastrointestinal system that has rapidly gone to Defcon 1 you can imagine yourself reflexively diving for the toilet bowl regardless of whether it is already occupied by a friend’s head. Even McCarthy’s unforgettable encounter with the sink is the result of the character sizing up her options and picking the least worst. Pooping in a sink might be good for a juvenile chuckle in any context, but crafting a scenario where it’s the responsible thing to do? That’s a thing of beauty.
Considering how far the scene could’ve gone, the actual visible gross-out content is somewhat restrained. You don’t see more than a bit of barf. I imagine few other comedies could have resisted the temptation to go over-the-top and get a big reaction out of the audience. They could have easily had the snooty sales associate open the door to find the tastefully appointed boutique bathroom transformed into the toilet from Trainspotting. The Bridesmaids team understood that the biggest laughs were not in rubbing the audience’s face in bodily functions, but from the ladies’ flailing, desperate attempts to salvage some shred of dignity from this off-the-charts humiliation. Melissa McCarthy commanding “DON’T YOU LOOK AT ME!” like that makes a difference is funnier than anything graphic they could show.
Same goes for Maya Rudolph casually waving traffic around her while she quietly desecrates a designer gown in the middle of a busy road. For my money, the sequence’s biggest laugh is Wiig’s clinging white-knuckled to the idea that it all has nothing to do with her choice of restaurant, even as sweat cascades down her face and she turns the color of a corpse that died two weeks ago from blood loss.
When Wiig and Mumolo thought of weaponizing a bowl of Jordan Almonds I hope they called it quits for the day and opened a bottle of champagne.
The common response to scatological humor from fainting couch occupants and monocle-poppers everywhere is “Was that really necessary?” a question which is, of course, beside the point. A funny scene is its own justification. The real question is “Did you earn that?” People with no sense of humor are fond of making assertions like “Poop jokes are just funny!” but nothing is funny devoid of context. Such types never earn it. For them transgressions against social taboos are a lazy stinkbomb tossed in as a shortcut to the strong emotions they lack the creativity to reach any other way. Bridesmaids earns it.
Previously on Season 2 of "The New Classics"
- Capote
- The Descent
- First Reformed
- Gosford Park
- The Handmaiden
- It Follows
- Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
- The Master
- Nightcrawler
- Oslo August 31st
- Two Days One Night
- The Witch
and... - Season 1 of The New Classics
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Reader Comments (28)
Love this movie and scene. Kristen Wiig refusing to fold to Rose Byrne's almonds is the best part - cinematic GOLD.
omg Michael this whole article *chef's kiss*... and toilet humor is generally not funny to me.
Like "Muriel's Wedding"'s trailers, I *thought* I was going to watch a wild crazy wacky comedy, and instead found two very funny but human and humane tales of friendship and depression.
This movie is a masterpiece. Never laughed harder in my life.
This movie is very funny, but it is the worst movie ever for location. The movie is supposed to be set in Milwaukee and Chicago. But all of its scenes were filmed in central California. Nothing like Milwaukee or Chicago. Half the movie is set on the stretch of highway running through a soybean field for God's sake. Every time I watch this movie, the incredibly bad locations bug me even more. Cheap.
A well earned universal belly laugh is one of the rarest things in movies. I can count on one hand the number of times I've been in a theater when this sort of thing happens. I consider it a gift to mankind. Seriously.
Why Kristen Wiig wasn't nominated for acting is beyond me. 2011 was such a misfire for Best Actress when you consider the quality of performances that were left out.
Kristen and Charlize missing Best Actress for Young Adult still annoys me.
Kristen Wiig should have won the Best Actress Oscar in 2011. And don't get me started on the fact that the Academy awarded Best Original Screenplay to Midnight in Paris over Bridesmaids, because Woody Allen needed a fourth Oscar. That aged well!
God bless you for writing about one of the funniest scenes in that movie and making it sounds as hilarious as it was. Such a great scene. I agree with everyone shouting out Wiig for missing in Best Actress, but let’s not forget that the Bridesmaids script was also much, much better than Midnight in Paris’s. If they weren’t gonna go for A Separation like they should have, Bridesmaids would’ve been a very deserving winner.
The off-camera, under-her-breath “Where were you when I was getting married, bitch?!” gets me every time. The underrated brilliance of Bridesmaids, this scene and in general, is how it manages to punctuate BIG moments with small ones, subtle asides, that still slap. Can’t wait for the 10-year retrospective (week-/month-long jubilee?) next year!
Michael, great article as always. One of the funniest movies ever--this thing hums with comedy all the way through. The way Kristin slowly cracks her teeth on those almonds and the look of terror in her eyes--Uh-mazing. The entire cast kills. Jill Clayburgh--"Castaway is on the Netflix." So much gold. Now I am going to watch this for the 20th time right now LOL.
I hate to go into the following defence in the comment section for a movie that thoroughly deserved its Oscar nom for writing.
But as good as the BRIDESMAIDS script is, the writing in MIDNIGHT IN PARIS is even better, and deserving of the Oscar itself (regardless of how many Oscars has been previously won by Allen).
And I would love to have it explained how MIP has aged poorly (assuming the comment was in sarcasm). I can only surmise that it is a reference to the allegations against Allen resurfacing in recent years which, despite one's individual beliefs about the individuals and occurrences, does not in any way come through in the MIP screenplay, as far as I can recall.
PS victims of sexual abuse, we believe you.
PPS (to bring it back to the original article) BRIDESMAIDS is a wonderful script.
Nathaniel - Thanks. This episode has been percolating since I pitched the series so I'm glad you enjoyed it.
Wiig would absolutely be on my 2011 ballot along with Theron and Dunst.
My 2011 Original Screenplay ballot would look like this:
Winner - A Separation. Easy. Probably my favorite screenplay of the decade.
2. Melancholia
3. Bridesmaids
4. Beginners
5. Weekend or Meeks Cutoff
I do like Bridesmaids but I kind of think it's overrated as it kind of felt depressing to see that Kristen Wiig's character is just going through a really bad time. Yeah, it's funny but I don't think it's that great. Anyone who thinks this script is better than Midnight in Paris.... line-up because I'm going to slap the living fuck out of you for being fucking idiots.
LOVE this scene, LOVE this movie, LOVE the performances. I would've double nominated McCarthy and Byrne in supporting actress and Wiig certainly for actress. The screenplay is golden, however I thought Midnight in Paris was magical and a worthy winner.
2011 was honestly a great year for movies with some truly extraordinary performances - Oscar really f***ed up that year. That best actress lineup, for instance, was probably the worst of the decade. Last year was a close 2nd.
A great scene and a sublime write-up. In the past few years, I think I've started to undervalue this movie a bit, but your words made me want to rewatch it tout suite and bask in the subtle canniness of its comedy construction. I certainly went straight to youtube to rewatch this bit.
My favorite parts of the scene are the various ways the women try to keep their dignity throughout the horrible event. Megan's "LOOK AWAY", Lillian's valiant trip to the other side of the road and Annie's effortfully eating that almond.
Great article.
People throwing comments like that at this movie are only doing it because it's women. Because had men done it, it would've definitely been much more graphic and gross.
This wasn't that nasty, and as you said, they earned it. It was set up perfectly. It wasn't the lowest hanging fruit. They weren't just trying to gross out the audience.
Michael, great job paying salute to this killer scene from a wonderful movie. You're spot on in acknowledging how smart and subtle the set-up is, with the cuts to a sweaty Wiig the piece de resistance. The emphasis is always on character here, as it is in every scene. From a structural standpoint, this screenplay is flawless.
I think Rose Byrne was better than ALL the supporting actress nominees that year, including (by far) the winner.
I basically think, it is a BAD film that only is considered because does the same gross out comedy that is basically reserved for male stars. Changing gender doesn't make it good... almost the same team reunited for the Ghostbusters remake/reboot and unsurprisingly, the only really funny stuff was coming from Chris Hemsworth doing a Marilyn Monroe's topycal character spoof (specifically hers in Monkey Business, and as Monroe back then, Hemsworth stole the whole show).
That this, and The Hangover are Original Screenplay nominees, really hurts. Even that Melissa McCarthy nom hurts (thankfully it served for promoting her career so she could land better roles like "Can you ever forgive me?", as she is a really good actress, as most prominent comedians.
None of the women in Midnight in Paris are fully-realized people. This is to be expected of the stock historical figures, but Rachel McAdams, in particular, is just a compendium of ticks that are supposed to repel us (when I watched the film, I couldn't understand why a successful screenwriter would have ever dated her, because Allen makes her so awful). Critics would be much more attentive to this issue now than in 2011 - for one thing, there are more women critics.
Bridesmaids is rare in that it is such an honest film about a woman who is struggling financially and yet it is able to present her situation with humor. It was important to me because it came out at the height of the Great Recession, when I was struggling, and it was the film that dealt most successfully with that era - much more successfully than something like The Big Short, in my opinion.
Bridesmaids took Young Adult's Original Screenplay nomination slot. For shame Academy, for shame. Midnight in Paris is truly awful. What is the Michael Sheen character doing in the movie at all except to make our Woody Allen stand-in (Owen Wilson) look like a great "pure" intellectual? The Rachel McAdams character comes off as a moron for believing the transparently idiotic statements coming out of Sheen's mouth. Anyway, A Separation is the real deal - a giant colossus of a classic film, and its screenplay deserved the Oscar over all the competition, nominated and non-nominated.
Yes! It's really all about the Jordon Almond.
Wonderful piece. And yes, this scene is gross but flat-out funny. Let us not forget to praise Rose Byrne, who is simply wonderful as Kristin Wiig's not-so-perfect, secretly empathic antagonist. The Jordan Almonds confrontation between her and Wiig makes me laugh every time.
The scene also works in the hilarious callback at the end when a sobbing Rose Byrne, trying to butter up Kristen Wiig, says “I don’t think we got food poisoning at the restaurant. I think we all had the flu.”
Props to Jessica St. Clair as the snooty boutique owner, who is an unsung hero of this scene.
You are looking very beautiful in this dress
Jakey - Love that bit. Wiig’s throwaway delivery of “I shit my pants on the way home” slays me.
jules - I hesitated in posting this, because there are going to be people who take this as reactionary commenting. But after consideration, I will put it out there
The argument you have about Rachel McAdams's character in MIP is correct. But a similar argument can be made about Chris O'Dowd's character in BRIDESMAIDS. I do recall getting close to being irritated at how he is blandly portrayed as the Darcy-like "good guy that she needs" trope. And the Jon Hamm character, well...
But both serve their purpose in the film, as supporting plot pieces for the Wiig character's journey. So I am comfortable with them, as much as I am comfortable with the paper-thin character of McAdams in MIP.