Jon Hamm: definitely, with Mad Men and The Town happening at the same time. — Bill Simmons
Melissa McCarthy is a tough one; The Heat is praised, and this is called her best performance, though her New York Times best-actors-of-the-century listing is debated.
Maya Rudolph: not her apex; her SNL stretch and The Good Place judge run rank higher. — Bill Simmons
Rose Byrne: no; Neighbors is more likely. Apatow: probably not, since he did not direct it. — Bill Simmons
For wedding movies it is a finals between My Best Friend's Wedding and this, possibly adding Wedding Crashers. — Bill Simmons
Paul Feig, who created Freaks and Geeks and made Ghostbusters, definitely peaked here critically and commercially. — Mina Kimes
For shit scenes in movies, Succession and Harold and Kumar are cited and it deserves a follow-up pod, but this would be the peak; it is agreed as Apex Mountain for diarrhea in a movie.
A Lamar Jackson aside becomes the joke podcast Leave Lamar Alone.
The first hangout lunch between Annie and Lillian opens the category, with Annie's penis impression called first class and possibly improvised.
Apatow understood the value of four-minute hangout scenes establishing why characters are friends, a template later seen even in The Hangover. — Bill Simmons
Jill Clayburgh, a major late-70s star, plays Annie's mom; her chicken-coop scene is longer in the extended version, and the character was toned down after she died. — Bill Simmons
The dueling engagement-party speeches were largely improvised; Rose Byrne invented fake Thai and a sensible Thai sentence was dubbed in.
The rest of the engagement party works too: Megan's introduction (dolphin telepathy, "I survived. I thrived.") and Annie being repeatedly paired with random men, where everyone else, not Annie, raises her single status. — Mallory Rubin
The speeches push secondhand mortification until guests are holding their glasses up waiting to drink. — Mallory Rubin
Asked about memorable wedding speeches, one participant recalls a best-man speech for best friend Jeff 23-24 years earlier that ended on hoping to someday find what the couple had. — Bill Simmons
Every character introduction before the speeches is distinct and funny, including Rita on her teenage boys and Becca with her husband after a Disneyland honeymoon. — Mina Kimes
Rose Byrne is one of the most underrated aspects of the film, also great in Neighbors (on the 2021 schedule); the dueling speeches felt more cringe-inducing than the bridal-shop scene. — Mina Kimes
Per the research, Byrne had been a dramatic actress hired as a Glenn Close-type villain foil, with nobody knowing she was this funny; she has the hardest, passive-aggressive part.
The food-poisoning dress-fitting scene is the iconic one; it was not in the shooting script and was added after Apatow and Paul Feig pushed for one more physical-comedy scene.
Setup details include the stray dog at the Brazilian restaurant and theme suggestions of Pixar from Becca and Fight Club from Megan. — Bill Simmons
The gross-out sequence was written in one participant's outline under most rewatchable scene before the rewatch; favorite lines include "I just need to get off this white carpet" and "Look away." — Mallory Rubin
Annie refusing to concede anything to Helen, looking worse with each cut and inching a Jordan almond toward her mouth, may be the funniest part.
It is one of the funniest scenes of all time for any age; after it was shown to a five-year-old son, "look away" became a household running joke. — Bill Simmons
The immaculate white bridal shop makes the chaos funnier. — Mallory Rubin
Asked which sick character they would be, one participant picks the character who throws up on someone else; another says they would be the "look away" character, like a dog that avoids eye contact.
Megan should have owned using the sink; the janitor's next-morning cleanup was on one participant's unanswerable-questions list.
The plane trip, a spouse's favorite scene, is a great 10 minutes: McCarthy's air-marshal bit and Annie escalating to "Welcome to Germany."
Good ensembles work in any pairing, compared with the Russo brothers' pairings in Infinity War and Endgame; seating Rita and Becca together to discuss their sex lives is a delight. — Mallory Rubin
The film shows up in gifs a lot, like Anchorman: "look away" and Annie's sarcastic reply to Helen's Vegas restaurant offer. — Mina Kimes
Planes are not funny places, especially since 9/11 and now the pandemic, so unlocking comedy there works. — Bill Simmons
Annie getting fired over the fight with the teenage girl at the store is a smaller favorite.
The bridal shower, including the bleached-asshole exchange, is another set piece; Lillian's "talk behind my back like a normal person" line is praised, and Megan takes the golden retriever puppies home. — Mallory Rubin
Megan's pep talk, which opens with Annie watching Cast Away, is nominated as a quieter pick blending humor and heart. — Mallory Rubin
McCarthy was the film's stunning revelation; she was an improv legend largely unknown to the public, compared with a John Belushi documentary, and was nominated for an Oscar.
Annie repeatedly driving past the cop to get his attention is a spouse's favorite. — Bill Simmons
Jon Hamm's scenes are flagged as a likely heat check, including the "open for biz" lap-nap line. — Mina Kimes
