Nov. 27, 2002 - 8:46 pm
i finally got around to watching my copy of this that i bought a few months ago. my lack of willpower to force myself to drive downtown this past week to pick up a new volley of films from the downtown library has gotten me into a mood to watch some of my own movies. i guess at least that makes me feel like i didn't waste my time and money in buying them, so that's always good. anyway, i can't even remember the first time i saw this film, but i always thought it was awesome. apparently this is the highest grossing British film in history. and it's not surprising why.
it's weird, the stars in this film really weren't stars back when it was made. but when you look at it today it has quite a few huge name British stars in it. i guess the biggest name at the time was actually Andie MacDowell, the female lead. and what's weird is she's probably the only thing that prevents this movie from getting a 10/10 for me. i'm sorry, but Andie MacDowell just sucks. she is not a good actress by any means. the only thing that makes her character tolerable is the fact that Hugh Grant makes their interactions seem believable through his excellent acting. and then the writing of all the characters makes up for her as well.
the prospect i would say centers around a group of friends who are all looking for love and happiness. the story primarily focuses on one member of the group, Hugh Grant's character and his enfatuation that develops with an American girl that he meets at the first wedding of the film. of course the film also includes 3 other weddings and of course a funeral.
my favorite parts of this film are the speech by Matthew, John Hannah's character, at the funeral, and then the second wedding of the four. Rowan Atkinson plays the extremely nervous priest who basically says everything as incorrectly as possible during the service. two beautiful scenes.
i don't think i'll ever get tired of this movie. it seems like it goes by really fast. and it's not because it's a short film, it's about average length i would say. it just seems like there needs to be more of it. i just don't want to stop seeing the characters interact i guess. probably one of the best casts overall of any film i've seen in a good long time. Andie MacDowell was a last minute stand-in on the other hand, and it shows.