Bride Wars parents guide

Bride Wars Parent Guide

If wedding plans are in your future, you might want to avoid this film -- unless you want a lesson on how not to prepare for the big day.

Overall C+

Ever since they were children, Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) have dreamed of the perfect wedding. Becoming engaged at the same time, the two of them hire the same wedding planner (Candice Bergen) and begin the elaborate preparations. But after an accidental double-booking means one of the prospective brides will have to change her date or venue, the love between the fair friends changes to all out war.

Release date January 9, 2009

Violence B
Sexual Content B
Profanity C-
Substance Use C+

Why is Bride Wars rated PG? The MPAA rated Bride Wars PG for suggestive content, language and some rude behavior.

Run Time: 89 minutes

Official Movie Site

Parent Movie Review

If wedding plans are in your future, you might want to avoid this film—unless you want a lesson on how not to prepare for the big day. Either way, leave the fiancé at home. This movie may be enough to scare him off of ever walking down the aisle.

Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) have been planning their nuptials since they were six-years-old and visited the grand Plaza Hotel with their mothers. On that day, over tea, they both decided this fairytale location is where they wanted to be married.

Now adults, Liv is an aggressive associate in a law firm and Emma is a mild-mannered middle school teacher who always ends up with extra assignments since she can never say no. As fate would have it, both women end up engaged within days of one another. The first order of business is to secure the services of the city’s most renowned wedding planner, Marion St. Claire (Candice Bergen).

Marion orchestrates weddings with the same military precision as a Napoleonic invasion. Nevertheless, a clueless aide mistakenly books both weddings on the same day. Years of friendship and loyalty are suddenly for naught as the brides-to-be begin battling for DJs, cake ideas and wedding guests. The two long-time pals don’t stop there either. They also sabotage one another’s beauty routines and party plans in downright nasty ways. Soon the warfare begins to affect the grooms (Chris Pratt, Steve Howey) who hardly get enough screen time to even be considered as eye candy. With the important day drawing nearer, tensions come to a head.

Granted, a girl’s wedding is big deal. Yet this film does nothing to dispel the concept of the malicious “bridezilla”. Both fiancées are so consumed with creating the perfect day that they lose all perspective on life. Luckily, their wider circle of friends refuses to take sides in the skirmishes, though they give in to the clichéd female comforts—ice cream, pill popping, etc.—to deal with the disappointment of still being single.

For women who can’t afford a Vera Wang gown or an extravagant reception at an expensive hotel, these battling brides are anything but role models. And unfortunately for many of the newly hitched in this film, marriage comes across as little more than a prerequisite for divorce proceedings.

Starring Kate Hudson, Anne Hathaway, Candice Bergen.. Running time: 89 minutes. Theatrical release January 9, 2009. Updated

Bride Wars
Rating & Content Info

Why is Bride Wars rated PG? Bride Wars is rated PG by the MPAA for suggestive content, language and some rude behavior.

Two couples that are living together finally decide to get married but the decision sparks a battle between life-long friends who resort to mean-spirited antics to disrupt the happiness of the other. A woman is stalked and threatened. Social drinking is frequently depicted including a bride who is drunk and other characters who consume alcohol or prescription pills to deal with stress. Brief sexual innuendo and comments are used in the script along with a lesbian remark. Women attend a party with male strippers. A woman at work is shown in a bra. Language contains infrequent profanities, frequent terms of Christian Deity and a couple of moderate sexual expletives.

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Bride Wars Parents' Guide

What do Liv and Emma learn about themselves during their engagements? What do their fiancés discover about their future wives?

Why is it easy to let expectations run wild during important events? What do the women discover about the value of friendship?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Bride Wars movie is April 28, 2009. Here are some details…

Release Date: 28 April 2009

Bride Wars walks down the isle on DVD dressed with audio tracks in Dolby Digital 5.1 (English) and Dolby Digital Surround (French and Spanish). Subtitles are available in English and Spanish. The following extras are also in tow:

- Theatrical Trailers

- 3 Deleted Scenes (including an alternate opening)

- Featurette: The Perfect White Dress

Bride Wars on Blu-ray comes with a much bigger bridal party. This 3-disc set is presented in widescreen with audio tracks in DTS Surround 5.1 (English) and Dolby Digital 5.1 (French and Spanish). Subtitles are available in English, French and Spanish. Additional materials include:

-Trailers

- Bonus Footage: 2 Improvisations (Amanda’s Wedding Speech and Liv at Tanhattan)

- 7 Deleted Scenes (including an alternate opening)

- Featurette: Something Old, Something New and What That’s Gonna Cost You, Meet Me at the Plaza, The Perfect White Dress, In Character with Kate Hudson, In Character with Anne Hathaway, Man Den, Maid of Honor and Amanda-Cam.

- Disc 2: Digital Copy of the movie.

- Disc 3: the Bride Wars DVD

Related home video titles:

Wedding plans become a contentious issue between a husband and wife when the bills start piling up for the Father of the Bride. Anne Hathaway also wrestles with problems of planning the perfect day in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.