Best friends turn battling brides

The wedding comedy has become something of a permanent fixture in Hollywood since My Best Friend's Wedding and The Wedding Singer hit screens a decade ago. But not all of them are a joy to watch.

Bride Wars is one of those films that you know you're either going to love or hate just from the title alone.

The mere thought of the wife-to-be becoming Bridezilla is enough to make prospective grooms quake in their boots, so from the word go this is strictly a chick flick, unless the thought of Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway fighting in the aisle appeals.

Even then, women could well be affronted by the rather stereotyped versions of brides-to-be presented to them.

Bride Wars is based on the premise that every young girl holds dear an image of her dream wedding, which in the case of "best friends forever" Liv (Hudson, who also produces) and Emma (Hathaway) is in New York's Plaza Hotel in June.

But when an administrative error by their wedding planner means they have to get married on the same day, the pair fall out in spectacular style and try to sabotage the other's special day.

Liv is the embodiment of a ball-breaking female lawyer who always gets her own way – at any cost – while Emma is a demure, selfless teacher, who can ill-afford her dream nuptials at the Plaza.

Some 20 years before the film's main action, the two girls saw a wedding at the Plaza and kept a mislaid hairclip belonging to the bride as a keepsake in a special box dedicated to weddings.

This shapes their desire to wed at the hotel, so when they both get engaged within days of each other they naturally go and see New York's best and most expensive wedding planner.

Hudson and Hathaway do the best they can with the rather tedious dialogue, but you don't much care for either character and little raises a laugh.

The ending is predictable, especially after the "journey of self-realisation" both girls go on, which sees them realise their faults and in one case question why they are even marrying.