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Bruce Hall: I have to agree with Edwin's fundamental point that women looking for quality comedy aimed at their demographic have historically been left out in the cold. It's also been widely assumed that bawdy, R-rated material doesn't sell to women and it isn't a shock to see the entertainment industry behind the eight ball once again...which brings me to my next point. Marketing this film relative to The Hangover is probably bit deceptive, but it isn't without reason. If you simply took The Hangover and replaced the leads with women, you'd end up with the same number of ladies in seats that you usually see at a Rush concert. But men and women tend to respond to both humor and weddings in different ways, and while both of these films are wedding comedies, they approach the subject from an more adult perspective than a PG-13 rating would allow. And they do so in a more gender appropriate way than the comparison suggests. Men who may have been turned off by the rom-com sounding title might be willing to give the thing a spin because it really is a good film, and is getting good word-of-mouth. If you were miffed at the bait and switch it shouldn't be hard to forgive, and the good will this movie is enjoying should help give it statistical legs. But with Johnny Depp's Ambiguously Gay Pirate coming to town next week, it may not be enough from a strictly financial standpoint. I think I know where a lot of the ladies will be next weekend.

Shalimar Sahota: I guess The Hangover resemblences are coming about because it concerns a wedding, the women go to Vegas, and Kristen Wiig gets drunk. I'm with Edwin, in that there seems to be a lack of decent comedies for this specific demographic, and the strong reviews place it higher than the likes of those Sex and the City movies, It's Complicated and Mamma Mia. For an original film that isn't actually based on anything, it's a strong result. This could be a potential $100 million earner, though how well it holds next week should tell if Bridesmaids has Gillette Venus style legs.

Reagen Sulewski: I don't know if the problem is that women won't go see raunchy comedies - it's that men won't go see them starring women. The general sense is that we've been burned by these films that were stealth romantic comedies and/or talked about "feelings" and junk, and as such, men have stayed away. It then becomes a vicious cycle - Hollywood won't let women make raunchy female comedies, and men assume they don't and can't exist. This could turn the tide, but as always it takes one actually being funny to do it.

Legs-wise, that Bridesmaids is appearing to subvert expectations has really good potential for its long-term health - think about There's Something About Mary, which opened small and under the radar and ran all summer.

Jim Van Nest - I realize it's single point analysis here, but my wife is stoked to see this. She has not seen (and will not see) The Hangover. She does not do raunchy comedy. yet, the trailer for this movie had her cracking up. It seriously comes off as a raunchy comedy for women. Guys have shown they'll watch any kind of obnoxious comedy, but this one now has the women on board too. I don't think Reagen is too far off with his Something About Mary comparison.

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