A lifelong bachelor falls in love with an American
woman over the course of five social gatherings. COMEDY
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Four Weddings
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1994 saw some heavy hitters up for Best Picture. Forrest Gump took top honors, but it was up against lifelong classics like Pulp Fiction, Quiz Show, The Shawshank Redemption, and oddly, Four Weddings and a Funeral. It's the last movie of that bunch that I had to watch, and I had always discounted it as a mindless chick flick. But it's far from that. The film is a hilarious commentary on love and its many problems, as well as a sweet look at English relationships. Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell play a cute couple, and the supporting cast are funny as hell.
Grant plays Charles, a lifelong bachelor who keeps getting invited to his friends' weddings, all of which are mindless but sweet, with the occasional hiccup. At the first wedding, he meets Carrie (MacDowell), a lovely woman that he sleeps with and falls in love immediately. But then she leaves for America, leaving Charles to wallow and forcibly smile at others' happiness. He keeps running into her over the course of several weddings, and a particularly sad funeral, and the ending is predictable but sweet nonetheless. I love the ensemble and the quirky British humor that permeates the film. I've always found British humor to be a cut above American humor. It's just far more sarcastic and witty, and this film exemplifies that. No surprise, since it was written by the same romcom king that wrote Love Actually and Pirate Radio. While I don't think it's as good as the other films it was up against, Four Weddings and a Funeral is still a great movie and a fun watch. |