Good for Kristen Wiig. An immense comedic talent packed into a tiny, rail thin person, Wiig was first noticed by most for an extremely memorable but miniature appearance in Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up. Seeing her now getting a starring role, and writing co-credit, in Apatow produced film Bridesmaids, which by all accounts is a critical and commercial hit with every chance to be this year’s most successful comedy, is a nice circular tale. If, of course, you ignore what happened in between.

A curious thing happened on the way to being a movie star. Saturday Night Live has, in the interim, taken Wiig and essentially wrung her out, realizing she was, unfortunately, the only funny female cast member they had in a post Fey-Poehler era. She was overused, plain and simple. Everyone agrees that she’s funny, hilarious even, and sometimes transcendently so. But the characters she was forced to repeat so many times made her, well, sort of annoying.

Assembling a cadre of painfully awkward, socially crippled, tic-enhanced caricatures so driven by a single pathos that they overshadow any and everything going on around them, Wiig became known unfortunately for things like Gilly, and Penelope, and the Target Lady. So what a surprise, an immensely satisfying and comforting one, that as Annie in Bridesmaids, Wiig turns in a very real, subdued, charming, and hilarious performance that holds together a very good, though not great, comedy.

This may have been marketed as “the female Hangover,” but it’s not at all. That’s a good thing. Instead this movie is more of a slow paced look at one woman’s (Wiig) slow realization that, romantically and indeed in life, she’s hit a quiet rock bottom, the final nail driven in by her best friend and compatriot in despair Lillian’s (Maya Rudolph) engagement (to Tim Heidecker no less, in a confounding and one-line cameo). What follows is encounters with other bridesmaids, suitors, air marshals, and a lot of well earned laughs.

The main cast is rounded out by 4 other bridesmaids, though the only two worth really noting are Rose Byrne as Annie’s haughty rival for Lil’s best-friendship, and Melissa McCarthy as the big boned and big mouthed sister of the bride, who’s given most of the funniest lines and almost makes off with all her scenes. There’s also Jon Hamm, continuing his comedic hot streak as Annie’s douchey “fuck buddy” and Chris O’Dowd as her Irish cop love interest.

All of these people are funny, as is the script. You will laugh, no doubt about that. Plot wise, the very last scenes might not work perfectly, but for all intents and purposes this movie succeeds. Directed by longtime Apatow collaborator, and Freaks & Geeks creator, Paul Feig, the movie has a nice relaxed pace that’s a welcome change from most comedies of recent years. Clocking in at over two hours, it ain’t short, but Feig lets scenes run their due course in ways that you don’t see very often.

As I said though, Wiig is the key piece here. Though it’s been marketed as an ensemble piece, it’s really not at all. It’s about Annie, and, thank god, she’s not a sketch. She’s a well rounded, sympathetic, sometimes reprehensible and very sad character. One of the best scenes in the movie is her quietly baking a very nice, pretty, immaculate cupcake for herself, only to eat it sad and alone in her messy kitchen. The movie may star all women, and perhaps there are certain nuances that escape me as a male viewer, but I found it to be really universal in the insecurities and fears it addresses. No man should fear this film.

Come for the scenes of drunken flying, food-poisoning ruined dress fittings, and Jon Hamm yukking it up in bed, but stay for the quieter scenes that pay off in wonderful character based laughs. More like The 40 Year Old Virgin than The Hangover, Bridesmaids won’t leave you cold. Best of luck to other comedies in 2011, the bar has been set very high.

- Whole Milk