I had never heard of Muriel's Wedding until one day when a friend of mine recommended it. "It's a four-star film," this friend stated. I trust this person—he's usually right on the money with his suggestions—so I didn't even hesitate to rent it.
We watched it silently one evening after dinner (we never talk during a movie) and, after it was over, I could tell my friend was trying to gauge my reaction.
"So, what did you think?" he asked.
"I loved it," I said with a big smile on my face.
Muriel's Wedding is the kind of film I really like: a smart and sassy comedy-drama that's beautifully written and directed.
I remember being really eager to see what the Australian director, P. J. Hogan, would do for an encore. As a follow-up he chose to stick with weddings and made the Julia Roberts vehicle My Best Friend's Wedding.
My Best Friend's Wedding is mildly amusing—a bit of a misfire, not terrible, but clearly not in the same league as Muriel's Wedding. I suspect this is because Roberts, who was attached to the project before Hogan, exerted too much influence. This is a big problem that Muriel's Wedding doesn't have. By working with relative unknowns (at the time), Hogan was liberated from the burden of having to keep a star's personality intact before the public—an issue he couldn't dodge working with Julia Roberts. This is a big reason why Muriel's Wedding works so well and My Best Friend's Wedding disappoints.
Both movies share similar themes and I don't begrudge Hogan for not striking out in a new direction because he really struck pay dirt his first time out. And the potential for weddings as a story centerpiece seems like awfully fertile ground from which any number of movies could be made.
Of all the wedding movies released in recent years, however (and you can add Four Weddings and a Funeral--also released in 1994), I'd have to say Muriel's Wedding is my favorite.
It's a standout because it's so well written and so clearly a labor of love, even if there's a certain unevenness in tone.
The movie begins not with a wedding, but with its aftermath: the bouquet toss. Right away one can sense what Hogan is saying—it's not the wedding that matters, it's what comes later that really counts.
We don't get to see this first wedding (which is not Muriel's), but what we do see is both sad and funny. The first image in the movie is of a bouquet plummeting to earth. The bouquet, which is tossed about and desperately sought after, lands in the grubby little hands of Muriel Heslop. Muriel (played by Toni Collette in a terrific performance) is chunky and stands out like a sore thumb in her leopard-skin dress. She's overjoyed ("Looks like I'm next"), but her more conventionally pretty so-called friends aren't. They tell her to throw it again because, you see, Cheryl's next in line to be married, so she deserves to catch it.
"What's the use of you having it, Muriel? No one's ever going to marry you, you've never even had a boyfriend," she's told.
It's all very pathetic and embarrassing, but it plays out in a very funny way. Muriel reluctantly gives in ("Don't be selfish") and half-heartedly tosses the bouquet to Cheryl who immediately bursts out in tears. You see Cheryl recently broke up with her boyfriend, so it doesn't look like marriage is in her immediate future.
This is funny stuff and it would be great if the sequence stopped there, but Hogan lays it on even thicker. While Tania (the bride) is consoling Cheryl, Muriel happens to catch the groom going at it in the laundry room with one of Tania's bridesmaids. And, to make the whole event a complete disaster, Muriel is spotted in a stolen dress and is taken home by the police.
This opening sequence (the Rubettes "Sugar Baby Love" plays in the background) is really terrific, but the rest of Muriel's Wedding doesn't disappoint.
We're soon introduced to Muriel's dysfunctional family. Her father Bill (Bill Hunter) is a corrupt, small-time politician ("You can't stop progress" is his motto) who berates Muriel and the rest of the family, calling them all useless. Muriel's unemployed, on the dole as Bill states, and tends to escape to her room where she listens to ABBA songs (the movie's soundtrack is chock-full of their dance-pop hits).
When her friends (Tania and the rest of the vapid brood) plan a vacation and tell her, in no uncertain terms, that's she's not invited, Muriel is devastated. They have a whole list of superficial complaints: she's fat, she doesn't wear the right clothes, and she listens to the wrong music. The dialogue here is wickedly funny:
"You bring us down," one of them says
"You embarrass us," another chirps in.
"I know I'm not normal but I'm trying to change," Muriel pleas. "I'm trying to become more like you."
"It's too late."
"I can change."
"You'll still be you."
It's extremely hurtful, but Muriel, who lacks self-esteem big-time, turns it around. She steals money from her family and joins them anyway. They're angry, but it's on this vacation that she's reunited with Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths in a very good performance), a plucky and promiscuous high school acquaintance.
Not being able to return home to Porpoise Spit after the vacation ends, she follows Rhonda to Sydney (the "city of brides") and starts to rebuild her self-esteem, although she still feels that marriage is the ultimate answer. She measures success by it and makes frequent visits to bridal shops, pretending she's going to be married so she can try on dresses.
Muriel's Wedding is a comedy-drama that has equal doses of laughs and tragedy. It's an observant, character-driven story that has an awful lot of charm. True to its title, Muriel does get her wedding, but the movie doesn't end on that note. Like Albert Brooks says in Defending Your Life: you can't really be OK with another person until you're OK with yourself.
Muriel's Wedding is smart enough to realize that. Remember: it's not the event, but what happens after that really matters.
Awarded two thumbs up! by Siskel & Ebert and described as hysterically funny (US Magazine), MURIEL S WEDDING is the zany comedy (New York Times) that ...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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