Let’s just get this out of the way right now: bridesmaids is not the female version of The Hangover. A wedding premise nominally propels the plot and the women of the bridal party are utterly mismatched but for their identical hideous purple Fritz Bernaise dresses . But they do not go to Las Vegas. There isn’t a bachelorette party. The only mystery this motley crew has to solve is what took Judd Apatow so long to produce a great female ensemble comedy.

Directed by Apatow crony Paul Feig (who wrote/directed Freaks and Geeks) and written by Kristen Wiig (who stars) with Annie Mumolo and produced by the bromantic comedy king, bridesmaids is ostensibly a Superbad for the Virginia Slims set. Imagine if, instead of being sentimental about female friendships, Steel Magnolias was filthy and often really, really funny. With well-timed sex jokes that ring true enough to laugh even harder. It’s bawdy and a bit rowdy — the comedy equivalent of a Lady Remington shaver in that it’s just as good as the original Remington for men, only a bit smaller — and pink.

Annie (Wiig, pretty quinceanera dresses of SNL and Knocked Up fame) and best friend Lillian (Maya Rudolph) are a latter-day Laverne and Shirley — completely different personalities but with an easy rapport that long-time girlfriends have. “He calls me dude a lot, bridal wedding jackets ” Lillian says, commiserating about her guy while giving hopelessly single Annie the “you’re a total catch” pep talk over brunch. BFFs until wedding do they part.

Lovable loser Annie has hit bottom — she’s a baker whose beloved bakery has gone under, draining everything she had (including her self-confidence) and isn’t up to her elaborate maid of honour duties. The ragtag gang of bridesmaids is not amused prom dresses prom dresses, and with another script or cast, throwing a newlywed, a desperate housewife, a socialite and a super-butch together for laughs might have devolved into caricature. But here, each of them is more than stock character. Thanks to what feels like inspired improv, sometimes it feels like there’s a whole other movie going on in the background of a scene.

Still, Annie keeps screwing up — although it’s difficult to completely believe Wiig as hapless because she radiates such natural charm, beach wedding bridal gowns beach wedding bridal gowns smarts and sass, even in the many throwaway lines she sneaks in almost under her breath. At Lillian’s lavish engagement party, when the flawless socialite glides over in with a full-on designer gown and takes over Annie’s role, we know there’ quinceanera ball gowns ;s going to be trouble at the henhouse.

Before we get to Annie’ wedding tiaras veils wedding tiaras veils;s extended existential crisis, flower girls dress however, let’s pause long enough to contemplate the possibility of a Fight Club-themed bridal shower where guests win prizes for guessing the bride’s weight. And to Google Chris O’ prom ball gown ;Dowd, who plays Annie’s sweetly funny love interest, a state trooper named Rhodes, because the puppy-eyed actor is totally the Irish Jason Segel.

Annie’s mother (Jill Clayburgh, in her final film role) repeatedly suggests “maybe this is your bottom.” bridesmaid dress pink ; Hardly! Before reaching the altar, there are trials on an airplane, a tennis death match and a visual drive-by gag. Some of these feel like excuses to cobble together extended skits — you can practically hear the writers’ room relishing the clever comedy cameos, like Annie’ wedding dresses beach wedding uk wedding dresses beach wedding uks unctuous roommate Gil (Matt Lucas, one half of Little Britain) to douche-with-benefits Ted (Jon Hamm). And why not? With a talented actor and gifted physical comedienne like Wiig — equal parts goofy Carol Burnett and wise-cracking Lily Tomlin. Be sure to stop laughing long enough to take in the entirety of her erect penis pantomime.

Food poisoning, combined with a hushed bridal salon carpeted wall-to-wall in ivory, provides the requisite Apatowian toilet humour set piece (literally; and the kicker might make you pee yourself). Because even Mr. Creosote has nothing on the tension that builds while Wiig slowly crunches an almond, as though it were a wafer-thin Monty Python mint.