“”Bride Wars.”” The name makes you want to roll your eyes and mumble “”Not another rip-off of a tacky sitcom.”” But alas, the clouds open wide and the heavens shine down on the silver screen once more.

The movie wasn’t miraculous, but it did manage to create a few impulsive guffaws and a stomach full of warm fuzzies nearing the end. Director Gary Winick (“”13 Going On 30″”) must have a thing for feel-good childhood digressions that wobble between sweet and sappy.

Liv (Kate Hudson) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) are unlikely best friends living in Manhattan, grown since the days of playing dress up in the attic, and ready to begin the next chapter of their lives – marriage to their somewhat similar-looking boyfriends.

The only thing they have in common is their shared dream of a wedding at The Plaza and their love for each other (you can say “”aw”” now). It’s the predictable “”this has never happened before”” mix-up of the wedding planner arranging the weddings on the same day that sends the film into action.

Neither bride changes her date, and as tension mounts to frenzy and friends morph into foes, the extravagant ransacking of the other’s marriage via spray tans and diet sabotages seems over the top.

But Hudson and Hathaway show why they’re both the ladies of the hour – Hathaway, soft spoken, though just as vindictive as the commanding Hudson, brings the humanness back up front with quirkiness and vulnerability. The women share a bond that seems so real you don’t mind dabbing your eyes.

Rating 3/5