Story

Emma (Anne Hathaway) and Liv (Kate Hudson) have been lifelong friends. Their friendship is sorely put to the test, however, when both women become engaged at the same time. They also both choose the same, much sought-after, wedding director, Marion St Claire (Candice Bergen), to arrange their weddings. Unfortunately, a booking error is made, and both weddings are booked for the same day. When neither woman is willing to change the date (which involves a long wait), they both try to sabotage each other’s special day.

Themes

Relationships; marriage

Violence

There is some violence in this movie. For example:

  • Emma and Liv fight over a gift box.
  • A woman pushes Emma over for harassing her.
  • There is a lot of verbal fighting between Emma and Liv.
  • Emma and her fiancé argue.
  • Emma attacks Liv during the wedding ceremony.

Sexual references

There are some sexual references in this movie, including when Liv talks about men with whom she’s previously slept.

Alcohol, drugs and other substances

This film shows a lot of alcohol being consumed in various venues – at home, at parties, in pubs, at nightclubs and so on.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is some nudity and sexual activity in this movie. For example:

  • Both couples are living together and are seen in bed together.
  • At a girls’ night out in a nightclub, there are men dancing in their jocks, and one strips off some of his clothing. Emma and Liv join the dancers and try to outdo each other with sexy dancing.

Product placement

None of concern

Coarse language

This movie contains some mild coarse language.

Ideas to discuss with your children

Bride Wars is a comedy about two women vying for the best wedding. It could be of interest to some teenage girls but is likely to have little broad appeal. The main message from this movie is that uncompromising attitudes can lead to unhappiness and disaster.

This movie could give you the opportunity to discuss with your children attitudes, behaviours and their real-life consequences. For example, you could discuss the implications of:

  • being self-centred and unwilling to compromise
  • using violence and nastiness to solve problems and get your own way.

This movie could also give you the opportunity to discuss with your children the importance of relationships, friendships and marriage.

Supported By

Raising Children Network is supported by the Australian Government. Member organisations are the Parenting Research Centre and the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute with The Royal Children’s Hospital Centre for Community Child Health.

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