Predictable ‘Bride Wars’ not much more than a chick flick

Focusing on the friendship between two women, "Bride Wars" is a pleasantly stereotypical chick flick, great for seeing with your girlfriends, but not for much else.

Twenty years after they first decide that the only way to get married is in June at the Plaza, best friends bossy perfectionist Liv (played by Kate Hudson, who also was the movie's producer) and sweet pushover Emma (Anne Hathaway) finally get engaged to their perfect men. The girls manage to book separate dates for their weddings, but their shared wedding planner mixes up the dates, booking them both for the Plaza on June 6.

At first, Liv and Emma are determined to fix the problem, and go after another woman whose wedding is scheduled for June at the Plaza. She refuses, and Liv and Emma end up being kicked out of Bloomingdales after they desperately chase her around the store. The scene was fairly funny and would have been hilarious if it had only lasted a bit longer.

Faced with no other option, the two friends agree that one of them has to pick another day. Neither wishes to change her plans. A communication error caused by their fiances convinces Emma that Liv already sent out her wedding invitations, so Emma sends a mass e-mail to all her other friends, telling them to meet her for her wedding on June 6 at the Plaza.

Liv and Emma quickly go from being best friends to worst enemies, playing all sorts of childish pranks on each other's weddings. Emma sends Liv candies so she gets too fat to fit into her Vera Wang wedding gown, and Liv gives Emma a carrot orange tan.

The movie predictably climaxes on Emma and Liv's wedding day, and the ending is enough of a surprise to make "Bride Wars" worth watching.

"Bride Wars" has an interesting plot complete with the kinds of twists and turns that keep an audience awake, but the movie is lacking in the humor department. Time and time again, scenes and situations are cut off just when they start to get really funny, bringing out quiet chuckles but no loud guffaws.

Overall, "Bride Wars" is the type of movie that's worth watching if it shows up while you're channel flipping, or maybe renting a DVD, but not quite worth a $10 ticket to the theater.