(MA15+) ***

Director: Paul Feig.

Cast: Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Elli Kemper, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Chris O'Dowd.

THE pre-hype on this comedy has it pinned as the female Hangover but it's a bit more than that.

There are some obvious similarities, however Bridesmaids is its own creature - a very funny yet flawed one at that.

Written by star Wiig and fellow comedienne Amanda Mumolo, it follows Annie (Wiig) as she tries to organise the pre-wedding celebrations for her best friend Lillian (Rudolph).

Unfortunately, Annie has been having a run of bad luck lately and it's only compounded by her efforts to do right by her buddy while competing for her affections with her new best friend, little Miss Perfect aka Helen (Byrne).

So let's deal with the comparisons with The Hangover - it's set before a wedding and the shenanigans leading up to it, it revels in potty-mouth gags and just-plain-wrong humour, and it has Melissa McCarthy doing the kind of stuff Zach Galifianakis did in The Hangover.

But if you're expecting some bawdy bachelorette shenanigans, think again. These girls don't even get to their planned Las Vegas bachelorette party, let alone run rampant through Sin City. Also, this is not about unapologetic bad behaviour, nor is it shot through with a streak of pure unadultered insanity.

Bridesmaids is more of a character piece, with the lens focused on Wiig's Annie. It's got the touchstones of many a chick flick - the loss of the dream, the unhealthy relationship, the resented rival - but there's a freshness to the un-sugar-coated approach taken here.

The film is very funny in places and the much-discussed signature scene involving the onset of food poisoning during a dress fitting is disgustingly hilarious, with full points going to the cast for being willing to go as far as they do in the name of gross-out comedy.

Much of the rest of Bridesmaids is far more subtle than that - the dress-fitting scene was actually devised by director Feig and producer Judd Apatow - and the film falls flat for extended periods. While Annie's downward spiral is still intriguing to watch, the laughless stretches do distract from the fact this is a comedy.

When it's on fire though, it's on fire. Wiig is the second funniest woman in Hollywood at the moment (step up, Tina Fey) and her co-stars are spot-on too, particularly McCarthy, Rudolph and Byrne. Love interest Chris O'Dowd (who was one of the only good things in the recent Gulliver's Travels remake) and bit players Jon Hamm, Rebel Wilson and Matt Lucas are also excellent.

There is a lot to like here and it's certainly one of the funnier comedies you'll see this year (certainly better than The Hangover Part II), but the flat patches make the film's 125 minutes feel a tad long on its way to walk down the aisle.