With both The Hangover, Part 2 and Bridesmaids playing right now to full houses, one can see two very different ways to draw attention to your comedy writing. 

One way is to have a great premise, and then use that premise to be clever, broad, and as outrageous as the times will allow.  That is The Hangover model.  The Hangover is a premise piece, meaning that the whole movie is just about the premise.  You don’t really get to know the characters nor do you need to.  The story does not hinge on the characters’ feelings, personalities, or relationships.  There is little at stake emotionally in the story’s outcome.  The plot is simply a frenzied dash to the finish line, along the lines of the 1960’s comedy classic,It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.  The Hangover has a great premise for an R-rated comedy: The morning after a bachelor party in Las Vegas, three men discover that the groom is missing and must retrace their steps from the night before – a night that none of them can remember - in order to retrieve the groom and get him to the church on time.  You have a ticking clock.  For a good chunk of the movie we believe that the groom’s life may be at stake.  It’s a golden premise well executed by the filmmakers.  It’s no surprise to me that the first movie turned into a franchise and that the franchise is on track to eventually make a billion dollars.  It’s the kind of idea that makes screenwriters slap themselves in the head and say, “Why didn’t I think of that?”  The answer to that question, by the way, is, “Because you’re not as clever as the guys who wrote this movie.”  The answer is also, “Even though this premise sounds simple, if it were that easy to come up with this stuff then someone else would have come up with it up sooner.”  When writing a spec screenplay or a spec pilot, having a strong premise like The Hangover really helps get your work noticed.

The other way to get your work noticed is to create at least one, and hopefully several, fresh and engaging characters.  This is what Kristin Wiig and her collaborator, Annie Murnolo, have done with their script for Bridesmaids.  I saw Bridesmaids over the weekend.  The movie is flawed.  Every movie is flawed.  There are some very broad and silly parts that are reminiscent of other movies.  Kristin Wiig getting drugged and drunk on an airplane, for instance, felt familiar.  During the “Let’s get out our aggression by playing tennis” sequence, I thought, “Didn’t they lift this straight out of Two Weeks Notice?”  Bridesmaids also boasts a poop emergency sequence reminiscent of the same Sandra Bullock movie.  There are some dull parts in Bridesmaids, as well.  But overall, I understood the glowing reviews, especially from female critics.  The movie has a fresh point of view, and, for all of its silliness, it has heart.  A fresh point of view and heart are two ingredients you will not find in The Hangover franchise.

The premise of Bridesmaids does not promise as much fun as the premise for The Hangover.  A single woman in her thirties is asked by her best friend to be maid of honor at the best friend’s wedding.   (Didn’t we see this already in a movie called My Best Friend’s Wedding?)  Wiig’s character, Annie, grows increasingly threatened by another bridesmaid, Helen.  Annie, who is broke, awkwardly tries to suggest an inexpensive restaurant for the rehearsal dinner, a modest theme for the bridal shower, and reasonably priced bridesmaid dresses, but she is repeatedly upstaged by Helen, who is wealthy.  The core of the story is about basic human emotions that we can all understand: envy, competition, self-doubt, and self-pity.  If the strength of The Hangover is in the non-stop stream of gags, the strength of Bridesmaids is in the characters, particularly Wiig’s Annie and Melissa McCarthy’s Megan.  Annie is not necessarily a likable character.  She is negative and selfish, but her flaws are relatable and forgivable.  She grows increasingly unhinged as the story progresses, but we end up rooting for her.  Megan might be described as a female Zack Galifianakis, a wacko from the moon, but she ends up being the voice of reason.  Jill Clayburgh, in her final screen performance, is wonderfully zany as Wiig’s mother.  When writers create great characters then actors can have a ball playing those characters.  And this is what makes Bridesmaids memorable.  I found myself still thinking about Bridesmaids the day after seeing it.  I haven’t seen The Hangover, Part 2.  I have only the vaguest memories of the first one.

The upside of just going for the jokes is that’s what the studios are looking for.  Though all spec scripts are nearly impossible to sell, a strong premise – a poster movie, as Blake Snyder used to call them – is a less challenging sale to Hollywood.  Just keep the jokes coming and keep upping the ante for 110 pages.  The downside of only going for the jokes is that it all gets old very quickly, so you better have a lot of jokes ready. 

The downside of going more for character and relationships is that your script is even harder to sell.  I’m sure the only reason that Bridesmaids sold was because of Kristin Wiig’s star power from SNL.  The upside of going for character over gags is that the movie stays with people longer.  I expect The Hangover, Part 2 to continue to make a huge pile of money.  I also expect it to fade quickly as other blockbusters are released.  Bridesmaids has, thus far, been the summer season’s surprise hit, and with favorable word of mouth it may continue to pull in audiences for weeks to come.