With a title like "Bride Wars" you'd expect some explosive comic moments of wedding sabotage and subterfuge, but instead you get a clunky formula romantic comedy, even by Hollywood standards.
Had Liv (Kate Hudson) married her best friend and rival Emma (Anne Hathaway) — it would have at least followed in the manner of pair's lovefest relationship.
Best friends since childhood, Liv and Emma have long shared a dream of holding their wedding day at Manhattan's Plaza Hotel.
Crisis comes via wedding planner extraordinaire Marion St. Claire (regally played by Candice Bergen), whose voice-over narration provides unnecessary exposition.
Marion's facade of nuptial planning perfection collapses when she mixes the dates of Livs' and Emma's June weddings to coincide on the same day. Obligatory shopping, arguing, and dance sequences lead to a feeble climax.
For their part, Hudson and Hathaway share little chemistry together in spite of their polished individual comic abilities.
The worst thing about "Bride Wars" is that it's a boring movie.
(20th Century Fox) 89 mins. Rated PG.
