Muriel's Wedding

Starring:Sophie Lee, Rosalind Hammond, Toni Collette, Belinda Jarrett, Pippa Grandison, Bill Hunter, Jeanie Drynan, Daniel Wyllie, Gabby Millgate, Gennie Nevinson, Rachel Griffiths, Matt Day, Chris Haywood, Daniel Lapaine, Susan Prior, Nathan Kaye, Cecily Polson, Rob Steele, GeneviÃ¨ve Picot, Richard Sutherland
Director: P.J. Hogan
Studio: Miramax
Product Type: DVD

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Ever since the late '70s when the Australian New Wave was in full surge, Down Under directors have delivered movies that often hit you like news from another planet. Offbeat characters, weird narrative twists, and a tart mixture of laughs and catastrophe--this is the juice that fuels such flicks as Proof, The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, Strictly Ballroom, Heavenly Creatures, and most certainly Muriel's Wedding. Directed by P.J. Hogan (who would go on to helm the Hollywood hit My Best Friend's Wedding), this little gem follows tradition by featuring an authentic misfit: Muriel (Toni Collette), a great overweight horse of a girl obsessed with getting married and the music of ABBA. Appropriately, we first meet Muriel at a wedding, all trussed up in a leopardskin number she's boosted for the occasion. When her snotty peers insist that she give up the bridal bouquet to someone who might actually get hitched, when one of the guests turns out to be a clerk in the very store where Muriel ripped off her outfit--you gotta laugh, she's such an unmitigated mess. A loser, her philandering politician father (Bill Hunter) calls her--along with his doormat wife and his other couch-potato offspring. But this movie's no exercise in geek-bashing. As Muriel takes up with feisty Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths) and moves from Porpoise Spit to the big city, her good-hearted grin and zest for life draw us in despite hilarious gaffes and mishaps. (Making out with a boy for the first time, Muriel suddenly finds herself awash in styrofoam: the oaf has unzipped the beanbag chair instead of her skin-tight leather pants.) Muriel's Wedding covers territory Hollywood would banish from a comedy--Rhonda's cancer, the suicide of Muriel's mother, a marriage of convenience to an arrogant athlete--yet, like its heroine, it never loses its sense of humor, its will to move on to whatever good thing might happen next. Everyone in the idiosyncratic cast is terrific, but it's Toni Collette's Dancing Queen who makes Muriel's Wedding a cinematic celebration you won't forget. --Kathleen Murphy

Description

Hysterically funny, fresh, and brimming with wit, MURIEL'S WEDDING is the comedy hit celebrated by critics nationwide! No one ever paid much attention to Muriel and her humdrum small-town life, so she and her best friend, Rhonda, decide to leave it behind and head for the big city ... where they end up having the exciting adventure of their lives! What's more, soon everyone takes notice when Muriel becomes engaged to a handsome and popular sports hero! You'll love every hilarious minute as Muriel discovers that even when it seems all her dreams are coming true, the path to the altar still has plenty of surprising twists!

Customer Reviews:

awesome.......2007-06-29

this is the bestest movie ever.. if you're a 20-something girl who dosn't really know what you're doing in life.. this is a perfect movie for you... it show's Muriel.. i mean Mariel's ups and downs in her life.. a great movie for that special 'girl's night in'.

Hilarious fun!.......2007-05-31

This movie combines the brutal honesty of being different with the very celebration of it. The music (predominantly ABBA) brings us, as an audience, up and down the emotional scale. We feel for Muriel, cheer her on, and admonish her at the same time. Muriel's Wedding is on my list of the best chick flicks out there.

Brought back so many memories ...........2007-05-29

The last time I ever saw this movie was over 10 years ago with my sister when we rented it on VHS. On DVD, it's even better. I wish they added a feature where they interviewed the cast now and see what they all look like. I know Collette is still acting, but whatever happened to those snotty friends of hers that make you want to punch them out.!

Muriel Steals Everything, Including Your Heart!.......2007-05-12

Muriel (Toni Collette) is an overweight, somewhat dense teenager who still loves ABBA and lives with an overweight somewhat dense family in Porpoise Spit, Australia. Dad is an incompetent and crooked local politician who belittles his family at every turn. Sounds like a real downer, huh? Throw in cruel girls, suicide and cancer and you'll have a real party! Right!? Director/Writer P. J. Hogan ("My Best Friend's Wedding") somehow manages to turn this screwball plot on its collective head and produces outrageous, hilarious scene after scene. Sure, Muriel is a loser until she gets together with Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths) and the two of them party and get revenge on the nasty girls. Both characters are extremely charismatic and likeable in every scene. There's no sense in going into all the plot changes and twists; it just keeps getting better and better. There's a certain realistic pathos of humor to Hogan's script, which never feels false and certainly not contrived. His aim is to make the losers the winners and the winners the fall guys. He succeeds marvelously.

A delight about people, their hopes, desires and despair.......2007-03-06

Before Tony Collette arrived in Hollywood she conquered her homeland, Australia, with this wonderful dramedy about losers, winners, life, love, fantasy and reincarnation.

Collette plays flabby loser Muriel, then renames herself Mariel after moving from little Porpise Spit to Sydney, where she embarks on a campaign to reinvent herself as a winner. Turns out she made the move by stealing money from dad, which she uses to pay for her best friend's cancer surgery, which turns out badly.

All the while, family angst and Muriel's fantasy about being a bride trump the social action in the film. She realizes her dream when she agrees to marry a South African Olympic athlete who can only compete for Australia if he acquires citizenship, which he does through marriage. Even though a loveless marriage, it works for both members.

"Why would you marry someone you didn't love?" the swimmer asks Muriel.
"You did."
"I want to win!" he responds.
"So do I."

And win Muriel does, metaphically and in life, by gaining fame through TV and newspaper coverage of her fancy wedding, and by turning around her peers that once belittled her...beautiful girls that couldn't wait to be her bridesmaids.

The loveless marriage is followed by the death of Muriel's estranged mother and her being reunited with family -- including her estranged and insensitive dad -- back in Porpoise Spit. The films ends on an upbeat with Muriel and friend returning to Sydney, seemingly leaving all their problems behind for a second time.

Collette is nothing short of a miracle in this film, which has parallels to "Bridget Jones Diary". She is a wonder in her delivery, facial expressions, voicing and overall acting. The script is a masterpiece of sardonic humor laced with pathos. You will identify with almost every character, cheering on many including Muriel, while reviling others.

This is a very great film that deserves the widest distribution. Rent, borrow, buy or steal this DVD today if you've never seen this wonderful movie.

Average customer rating:

awesome
Hilarious fun!
Brought back so many memories ....
Muriel Steals Everything, Including Your Heart!
A delight about people, their hopes, desires and despair

Muriel's Wedding [Region 2]
Starring: Sophie Lee , Rosalind Hammond , Toni Collette , Belinda Jarrett , and Pippa Grandison
Director: P.J. Hogan
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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