Four Weddings and a Funeral

Four Weddings and a Funeral. You know, that pretty much summarizes the big plot points in the movie. Yes, there are 4 weddings (well, maybe more like 3½ - more later), and 1 funeral, but there is more to the film than that. Actually, this film is just an English version of the TV show 'Friends'.

Let's see, among the core group we have: A brother and sister pair, one of whom has a big crush on one of the other group members; two guys rooming together; a ditzy female; they're all witty, yet still single; and all fiercely devoted to each other. Ok, the two guys rooming together are gay, and in this case it's the sister who has a crush on one of the other group members. Plus they're short one female, but who's counting. Anyway, the story: We start with Charles (Hugh Grant) waking up only to find he's late for Wedding #1 and he's the best man. He runs around his flat, wakes up his (platonic) roommate Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman), and heads out the door. By the way, if you find multiple repetitions of the "F" word offensive, you might want to turn the sound down for the first 3 minutes or so, because they say it more often than they do in Glengary Glen Ross (although I think GGR manages to be far more offensive). After lots of troubles (and lots of swearing) they finally make it to the church, where the other friends are waiting. We see the wedding, hear Charles' witty bridal toast, meet the next couple to get married, the rookie priest who marries them (Rowan Atkinson), and Charles' love interest, an interesting American girl named Carrie (Andie MacDowell). After the dinner the friends go off to Tom (James Fleet) and Fiona's (Kristin Scott Thomas) ancestral castle. Charles decides to try to find Carrie, and is about to give up, when she finally shows up, invites him up, and into bed (I didn't think the British moved that quick - oh wait, it was the American girls idea - that explains it). Morning comes and they go their separate way, at least until the next wedding. The gang attends this one en-mass as well, and sure enough, Charles sees Carrie again. He's so excited, but then things go really bad. Carrie says she's getting married, and she introduces him to her fiance. Then some witty person seats him at a table with all his ex-girlfriends, who end up finding out all the bad things he's ever said about them. Then, after getting trapped in the same room with the newlyweds (while they consummate their marriage), Carrie maliciously sleeps with poor Charles again! Wedding #3 - Carrie and Hamish (Corin Redgrave). The group attends again, partly to support Charles, but also because they like a good party. During this party, the friends all decide that it's time they all got married, and Fiona admits to Charles that she's been in love with him for years. Then tragedy strikes, Gareth (Simon Callow), the fellow living with Matthew (John Hannah), has a heart attack and dies. Then we have - The Funeral. Then suddenly, we see that Charles is getting married - but aren't told to who. The friends play a trick on him, setting the clocks an hour ahead, so he thinks he's about to miss his own wedding - to one of the ex-girlfriends mentioned earlier. Just as the wedding is about to start, he finds out that Carrie is divorced from Hamish. His brother David (David Bower) knows that something is wrong, and when the preacher asks for reasons why they shouldn't get married he says that Charles is in love with someone else. Charles admits to it, the bride decks him, and calls the wedding off (that's why I said there were only 3½ weddings in the film). Carrie shows up, dripping wet from a rainstorm, at his door, they profess their love, and end up never getting married. Scarlett gets married to a cowboy she met at Carrie & Hamish's wedding, Tom marries a girl he meets at Charles' aborted wedding, Matthew finds himself a new guy, Fiona marries Prince Charles (apparently the producers knew back then that old Chuck and Di wouldn't stay together ), David marries a girl who learned sign language just so she could talk to him (David's deaf by the way), and last, but not least, Charles and Carrie have a little boy, but still never get married.

This is a cute movie. I know some people (guys mostly) are thinking, "Oh great, a cute movie, just what I wanted to see". But let's face it, any good romantic comedy is cute, whether you like it or not. I just happen to think you'll like this one. Just remember, the early dialog is somewhat limited, and if you're severely homophobic, you'll not like the gay couple. I wouldn't recommend showing this to little kids, but that's why they put ratings on movies. Tell you what, get your significant other, curl up on the couch together and watch this film. You'll thank me for it.