If ever there were two genres that traffic in too-muchness, it’s the destination-wedding rom-com and the secret agent action-thriller. So call it fate that over-the-top meets outlandishly excessive in “Bride Hard,” a spoofy genre mash-up whose raison d’être can be boiled down to this line, uttered late in the proceedings: “She’s using the chocolate fountain as cover.”
The “she” is Sam, a.k.a. Agent Dragonfly, who leaps into muscular, gravity-defying action to take on a group of interloping baddies at her best friend’s wedding, all while wearing a frilly bridesmaid’s dress. She’s played to perfection by the ever-game Rebel Wilson, leading a cast that leans earnestly and ably into the escalating absurdity.
Working from a screenplay by Shaina Steinberg, the director Simon West, who until now has focused mainly on such outings in mayhem and stunt work as “The Mechanic” and “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” lands this hybrid beast in the realm of the sort-of caper and the not-quite romp.
Sam is a devoted spy whose preposterous cover story is one of the screenplay’s funnier jokes, and who’s barely had time to participate in the countless bachelorette rituals for the bride-to-be Betsy (a high-spirited Anna Camp). Feeling neglected, Betsy has demoted her bestie from maid of honor to bridesmaid — much to the delight of the groom’s sister, a control freak expertly brought to passive-aggressive life by Anna Chlumsky.
The extravagant nuptials, on a private island off the coast of Savannah, Ga., grind to a halt with the arrival by speedboat of a gruff mercenary named Kurt (Stephen Dorff), who is in pursuit of a cache of gold. Cue an assortment of purposely ridiculous chases and explosions, and the chance to see Sam wield hair supplies as weapons and go mano a mano with Kurt’s henchmen and the weaselly best man (Justin Hartley). The rest of the wedding party is a collection of one-note types played with conviction, among them the sunny groom (Sam Huntington) and a sex-obsessed bridesmaid (Da’Vine Joy Randolph).
A smorgasbord of unconvincing danger and semi-schmaltzy lessons in friendship, “Bride Hard” is rarely as funny as it could be. Opportunities for satirical digs go mostly unplumbed, although you might note that a key prop is a Civil War cannon. You might also note a glaring continuity gaffe in the final sequence, an apt reminder not to give any of this a second thought.
Bride Hard
Rated R for sexual references and some violence. Running time: 1 hour 45 minutes. In theaters.
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