Jon Hamm as Ted; the gate-swing opening; Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita; the $12 workout; Annie's store scenes; Jill Clayburgh casting; the cupcake scene and baking; Annie's mom's paintings; money and wedding absurdity; weddings as a movie trope; Helen's stepkids and lines; Wilson Phillips ending; ensemble performances; R-rated scatological humor; Milwaukee
Jon Hamm, in three scenes, escapes the Don Draper typecasting by playing the ultimate douchebag; "I really want you to leave, but I don't know how to say it without sounding like a dick" is the iconic line.
The opening gate swing of shame and Annie sneaking back into bed establish her character in two minutes.
Ted is a textbook narcissist everyone sees through, and making him horrible at sex is a great choice.
The rich douchebag in relation to a woman reverses usual comedy roles; Hamm looks like an actor on vacation in a well-written part of nine or ten minutes, down to the Porsche.
Wendi McLendon-Covey as Rita is so good it is puzzling she did not break out more; she is a Kim Cattrall 2.0 type.
Jennifer Coolidge was considered as an alternative for Rita but would have been distracting; McLendon-Covey is more subtle and would not be recast.
Rita's lines, including the semen blanket and her nine-year-old telling her to fuck off over pizza, remind viewers that married life is not idyllic.
Other holdovers: stealing Terry Crews's class to save $12, Annie's bad store work, the Jill Clayburgh casting, and the Bo Cosby joke.
The Fiona Apple song over the cupcake scene is noted, with Maya Rudolph married to Fiona Apple's ex Paul Thomas Anderson; the scene shows how broken Annie is about baking.
Baking in general in the Great British Bake Off era, including the cupcake leaf and the carrot cake, holds up.
Annie's mom's celebrity paintings, including Taylor Swift, are a subtle touch; her AA character outs people, including Bo Cosby.
Money, and how dumb and expensive weddings are, have aged well; the wedding industrial complex is real.
Weddings work as a movie trope because they put all the characters in one place; weddings also drive people crazy.
One participant recounts the only fight with their dad, three weeks before their wedding, over inviting a cousin's boyfriend to a guest list capped around 100-125.
Helen's stepkids and her 11 or 12 passive-aggressive lines, including the drink-passing line on the plane, are favorites.
It is nine golden retriever puppies; the Wilson Phillips ending and dancing hold up.
The ensemble performances, scatological humor and explicit R-rated comedy hold up; Milwaukee and Pittsburgh are underrated cities, and the "cock baby" graffiti is a favorite.
