Muriel's Wedding Movie Review

An unusual friendship is explored in the Australian entry by P. J. Hogan, Muriel's Wedding. Muriel (Toni Collette) is a chunky young woman who dreams of a lavish wedding and warm acceptance from a clique who reject her at every opportunity. Muriel is also a compulsive liar and a thief who thinks nothing of feeding her unrealistic dreams with a string of deceptions. While on holiday, she meets the hedonistic, chain-smoking Rhonda (newcomer Rachel Griffiths), who thinks nothing of blasting the exclusive clique with the truth, and who clearly adores Muriel on sight. Of course, Truth wins the day in this extremely uneven film; key sequences appear to have wound up on the cutting room floor, diminishing the overall dramatic impact, and even fine acting by Collette can't make Muriel a truly riveting central character. The scene stealer in this one is the luminous Griffiths; I found myself wishing that the movie had revolved around Rhonda instead of Muriel, and missed her every second she was offscreen. International filmmakers, take note!

1994 (R) 105m/C AU Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths, Jeanie Drynan, Gennie Nevinson Brice, Matt Day, Daniel Lapaine, Sophie Lee, Rosalind Hammond, Belinda Jarrett; D: P.J. Hogan; W: P.J. Hogan; C: Martin McGrath; M: Peter Best. Australian Film Institute ‘94: Best Actress (Collette), Best Film, Best Sound, Best Supporting Actress (Griffiths); Nominations: Australian Film Institute ‘94: Best Director (Hogan), Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Hunter), Best Supporting Actress (Drynan); British Academy Awards ‘95: Best Original Screenplay; Golden Globe Awards ‘96: Best Actress—Musical/Comedy (Collette); Writers Guild of America ‘95: Best Original Screenplay. VHS, LV, Closed Caption