A Diaz-ling Jule of a film! (My Best Friend's Wedding (DVD))

Member Name: vicky_the_writer

Product:	My Best Friend's Wedding (DVD)
Date:	04/08/03 (280 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Full of laughs, A brilliant cast, You care what happens

Disadvantages: Not given the recognition it deserves

After taping My Best Friend's Wedding off the TV a few years ago, it quickly became one of my favourite films ever and I've watched it more times than I can count. This only becomes a problem when the film starts to get lines running across it and the sound flickers, and I was just starting to reach this stage when I happened to become the proud owner of a DVD player. Almost as if it was fate, I also found the My Best Friend's Wedding Collectors Edition DVD in a Woolworths sale that same week!

This film falls into the class of romantic comedy, and if hearing this has put any of you off, or made you think it's just a sappy love story, then think again...


----~* The Plot *~----

Commitment shy food critic Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) hasn't seen Michael (Dermot Mulroney) for months. After a brief fling in college she got restless and broke his heart, but they stayed best friends. One Wednesday Julianne receives an answer phone message from him sounding desperate to speak to her.

Years ago they made a promise that if they reached 28 and neither of them were married, they would marry each other. Her gay boss and friend George (Rupert Everett) points out that it is in fact 3 weeks until her 28th birthday. Julianne realises she is still in love with Michael, but is later devastated to find that he is marrying someone else... that Sunday!

When she meets Michael's beautiful and over-excitable fiancée Kimmy (Cameron Diaz), Julianne is informed that she is to be their Maid of Honour and has 4 days to become Kimmy's new best friend. Julianne has other ideas though. She decides to use the four days before the wedding to split them up and win Michael back, with the help of George and her extremely devious mind. This is where the fun starts, as none of Julianne's scheming seems to go according to plan...

This film is high-spirited and thoughtful, and the more emotional amongst you may w
ant to have some tissues handy as parts of the film are quite touching. As this is a romantic comedy, you couldn't be blamed for coming to the early conclusion that it is just another case of "boy meets girl, something or someone comes in between them, but they end up together and living happily ever after." It isn't just a "sappy love story" though - this film serves up laughs-a-plenty and Julianne's wild antics will keep you amused throughout.


----~* Main Characters *~----

Julianne 'Jules' Potter (played by Julia Roberts) - In other romantic comedies starring Julia Roberts (eg Notting Hill), she is one of the good guys, but this film shows another side of her. At the beginning of the film, I couldn't help feeling sorry for her as you see her face the moment she finds out Michael has met someone else, (but then the moment is gone and replaced by laughter as she falls off her bed!) Later on in the film though, as she gets more desperate and her scheming becomes more devious, you start to hope she wont get her man after all. This is part of the film's charm - you never know how you really feel about the characters until right at the end of the film. This film shows Roberts at her best, as it allows plenty of time for her character to develop, and although this is one of her earlier films, her experience still shows.

Michael O'Neal (played by Dermot Mulroney) - Although Dermot Mulroney had starred in a few films before My Best Friend's Wedding, I hadn't seen him before. The director cast him well though, as he puts in a strong performance and doesn't pale into the background as you might expect when he is surrounded by 3 much stronger characters, especially as his character appears to be the more serious of the four. Mulroney has the classic tall-dark-handsome look about him and so may have some of you swooning by the end of the film due to the many sultry looks he casts Ju
lianne's way. His character is complex as he is deeply in love with Kimmy but it is obvious that he still has feelings for Jules too. This makes it unclear as to how the story will pan out, and keeps you guessing throughout the film.

Kimmy Wallace (played by Cameron Diaz) - When you first see Kimmy Wallace she is in a crowd at the airport, but she couldn't stand out more because of her bright yellow dress amongst the greys and blacks everywhere else. She runs and hugs Julianne, informing her that she has 4 days to make her her new best friend (this is greeted by a scared look from Jules). Cameron Diaz plays Kimmy excellently, and with Kimmy's sunny nature you can't help but love her and hope that she doesn't become a victim of Julianne's scheming (of which she is totally unaware).

George Downes (played by Rupert Everett) - George is a fantastic character whose sense of fun, wisdom, sensitivity and English accent make him every girl's ideal object for unrequited love. It's just a shame he's gay! As Jules's boss and friend, George tries to stop Julianne from going ahead with her scheming plans. At one point he goes to visit her, and Julianne lies, telling Michael that she and George are engaged, in an attempt to make him jealous. This makes George desperate to humiliate her, meaning endless jokes, flamboyant behaviour and the odd song or two thrown in for good measure.


----~* Why I Love It!!! *~----

This film has a sharp script and fast pace, but each scene flows well into the next and keeps you interested. Each attempt from Julianne to sabotage Michael and Kimmy's relationship gets more outrageous, and each time fails spectacularly.

The actors and actresses all work together brilliantly, with many of the supporting roles providing the laughs too. My favourite scene in the whole film is where the bride and groom's families go out for a meal at a crab house before the we
dding. As part of his attempt to humiliate Julianne, George starts a rendition of "Say A Little Prayer", which ends up with the entire restaurant singing along with him. This shows all of the characters around one table and really is the film's trademark scene. Other classic scenes are where Kimmy, Michael and Jules are all chasing each other in their cars (I wont explain why, it'll ruin the film!), and where Kimmy has to sing (or is that wail?) at a Karaoke bar, after Julianne "accidentally" took them there following a confession from Kimmy that she can't sing.

Although this film will keep you laughing throughout, it also has emotional undertones, managing never to become either too comedic or too serious. The superb directing from P.J Hogan, and consistent acting from the main characters will mean that you actually care what happens to them at the end of the film.


----~* Quality of Audio & Picture *~----

As you would expect, the quality of the audio and picture with this DVD is to a very high standard. The picture is clear (even on my teensy little screen) and the sound is just right, (again, even through teensy speakers!) The audio can be changed by selecting "Audio Set-up" from the DVD menu.


----~* DVD Extras! *~----

The DVD menu is so cute, presented as the inside of a wedding photo album. It plays music from the film and has changing photographs from different scenes. As with most DVD's, there are quite a few extras, some better than others...

* Scene Selections *
Here you can choose to skip to any scene you like just by selecting it. Some people may not find this useful but personally I like to use it to skip to my favourite scenes every now and again.

* Unveiled: My Best Friend's Wedding *
A documentary showing parts of the film being shot, and interviews with the producer (saying why he chose to do the film) and with the stars,
saying why they wanted to be in it and what the rest of the cast were like to work with etc. Quite interesting but only really watchable once.

* Wedding Do's and Don'ts Featurette *
A short series of tips advising you of what to do and not do before and during your wedding. Quite funny but again nothing special, and to be honest quite forgettable.

* "I Say A Little Prayer For You" Song-a-long *
My favourite extra, you can re-watch the scene in the crab house, but this time with subtitles at the bottom. The words change colour as they are sung, so it is easy to sing along (and believe me I have!) Just make sure you have the house to yourself when you try this one... especially if you have a voice like Kimmy's!

* Theatrical Trailers *
You can watch trailers for both "My Best Friend's Wedding" and "Stepmom". Quite self explanatory really!

* My Best Friend's Wedding Album Trivia *
Shows scenes from the film being filed whilst telling you little bits of trivia about the cast, crew and filming locations etc. Quite interesting but I didn't watch all of it as I preferred just to watch the film.

* Filmographies *
Shows the film history of the director and the 4 main characters. Although My Best Friend's Wedding was made in 1997, the DVD is obviously more recent and so shows film histories up until around 2001.

* Who's The One For Me? *
Fun personality quiz which "will determine what's in the cards for you". Has two different quizs, his and hers. Worth doing just to see what result you will get.

*HBO Making-of Special: On-the-set *
Documentary showing the actors and actresses explaining the meaning of the film and different scenes. Similar to the "Unveiled: My Best Friend's Wedding" documentary. Again worth watching, but only once.


----~* Other Info *~--
--

Feature Run T
im
e: 101 minutes (approx)
Certificate: 12

Languages: English, French and German

Subtitles: Ok here goes... English, German, French, Hungarian, Icelandic, Hindi, Hebrew, Dutch, Bulgarian, Swedish, Finnish, Greek, Norwegian, Arabic, Polish and Czech.

Dual Layer Format
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Aspect Ratio 1.2.35: Widescreen


----~* So Basically... *~----

My Best Friend's Wedding is the perfect mixture of comedy and romance, and keeps you guessing til the very end. Watch it with your partner, friends, or just by yourself; either way it is an enjoyable film that can be watched over and over again without ever losing its sparkle.

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