DVD: Bridesmaids (15)

Kristen Wiig's box-office sensation isn't quite as funny as it ought to be or quite as hilarious as it thinks it is. It is, however, excruciatingly embarrassing in parts and, at its heart, very sweet.

Wiig plays Annie, a needy and resentful thirtysomething whose cake business has gone down the panhole and who is, inexplicably, sleeping with Ted (Jon Hamm, hamming it up), a jerk who insists she leave his expensive pad once he has had his wicked way with her. Has she got terrible low self-esteem or is she criminally shallow? It's quite hard to tell.

Lillian (Maya Rudolph), her best pal since childhood, is an emotional crutch, providing pep talks ("You're a total catch") and pointing out the obvious ("He's an arsehole") before asking her to be her maid of honour. Or "maid of dishonour", as the gross-out events (including the statutory diarrhoea and vomit scenes) unfold in this Judd Apatow-produced comedy.

Annie is confronted with the super-efficient and beautiful Helen (Rose Byrne, convincing), who becomes a rival for Lillian's fickle affections. During a painful speech-off between Annie and Helen, the latter claims Lillian is her "angel and soulmate", before they both break into a toe-curling rendition of "That's What Friends Are For".

Wiig has a good line in awkward smiles and there are some memorable cameos, but this is a tad too patchy to be a great comedy.

Out on DVD and Blu-ray 14 November