Kristen Wiig’s characters on “Saturday Night Live” tea length summer dresses tea length summer dresses (serial liar Penelope, the overly zealous Target Lady, stage-fright afflicted travel agent Judy Grimes) really polarize fans of the show. There are two reasons for that, the obvious one being that they seem to be on the show almost every week.

The other one, I think, is that Wiig excels at playing incredibly needy characters, desperate for attention and validation. She’ online wedding dresses online wedding dresses;s so good at it that it can start to make you feel a little uneasy, cheap white summer dresses like being cornered at a party by an uninvited guest who won’t stop talking.

Wiig brilliantly taps into that insecurity for her first starring film role, halter wedding dresses with color halter wedding dresses with color in “ bridesmaids ,” which she co-wrote with Annie Mumolo, and the result is a comedy that’s both riotous and kind of sad at the same time.

She plays Annie, a failed Milwaukee pastry chef who seems hellbent on finding new ways to mess up her life. She has a thankless job as a jewelry jewelry store clerk, lives with obnoxious brother-and-sister roommates, and has a “friends with benefits” relationship with a pompous jerk (Jon Hamm), from whom she seems to get neither friendship nor benefits.

At least she’s still best friends with her childhood buddy Lillian (Maya Rudolph), on whom she can dump all her problems. But that all changes when Lillian gets engaged, and insists that Annie be the maid of honor.

“I’m so happy for you,” Annie enthuses, in that way people do when they’re unhappy.

Annie initially tries to put on a brave face and be a supportive friend for Lillian. But she feels threatened when another bridesmaid, the impossibly chic Helen (Rose Byrne), claims Lillian is her best friend, cheap summer dresses under 20 and starts horning in on the wedding planning. Annie’s desperate attempts to take control of the dress dress fitting, the bridal shower and the bachelorette party backfire in spectacular (sometimes spectacularly gross) ways.

I had a hard time finding somebody to go to the “ bridesmaids ” sneak preview with me; the women I know thought it would be too raunchy, while the guys assumed it would be a chick flick. As it turns out, the women were closer to the mark, as “Bridesmaids” is packed with big, raunchy, R-rated laughs.

But underneath the jokes is an undercurrent of truth about friendship, and how weddings can often bring out the strengths and the flaws in those bonds. There are times when the screenplay and director Paul Feig (best known for creating the beloved “Freaks and Geeks” with “Bridesmaids” producer Judd Apatow) aren’t afraid to go into dark places, in a way that reminded me of Alexander Payne’s “Sideways.” In one scene in particular, Annie creates a gorgeous, elegant cupcake alone in her kitchen, regards it sadly, and then takes a huge, gluttonous bite out of it. There’s a palpable self-loathing in that moment that’s akin to the “Sideways” moment where Paul Giamatti drinks wine out of the dump bucket.

The supporting cast is full of very funny actors, including Ellie Kemper (“The Office”), Wendi McClendon-Covey (“Reno 911”) and Melissa McCarthy (“Mike and Molly”) as the other bridesmaids, and the late Jill Clayburgh as Annie’s supportive but exasperated mom. It was also fun to see Irish actor Chris O’ Beautiful designer bridal gowns and wedding dresses for your big day. Affordable fashion for bridesmaids, flower girls dressesDowd of “The IT Crowd” as a sweet Wisconsin State Patrol officer. (By the way, wedding cocktail dresses wedding cocktail dresses aside from a few opening shots of Milwaukee landmarks like the art museum and Usinger’s, the entire movie was actually filmed in California.)

“Bridesmaids” suffers from the niggling problems of other Apatow movies; it’s too long by about 15 minutes, the ending is too tidy and there’s a gross-out gag in the middle that’s so perfunctory it feels like it was put there to fulfill a contractual obligation. But in general, the movie is so funny and bracingly honest that you can forgive the few moments where the momentum flags.