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Description: The champagne is flowingand so is the funin this "delightful and sly" (Roger Ebert) romantic comedy about two people who belong together but just can't seem to tie the knot. Ushering in two Academy AwardÂ(r) nominations*, and starring Hugh Grant (Notting Hill), Andie MacDowell (Michael) and a superb ensemble cast that includes OscarÂ(r) nominee** Kristin Scott Thomas, Four Weddings and a Funeral is truly "a very special occasion" (Rolling Stone)! Charlie (Grant) is always the best man but never the groom. Determined to avoid even a hint of commitment, this handsome English gentleman is notoriously late to every wedding. But today he's in for a real surprise because not only did he forget the ring...but he also just caught a glimpse of the girl of his dreams (MacDowell)! "Elegant, festive and very, very funny" (The New York Times), Four Weddings and a Funeral is engaging entertainment from beginning to end. *1994: Best Picture, Original Screenplay **1996: Actress, The English Patient Amazon.com: A surprise hit and one of the highest grossing films ever to come out of Great Britain, this effortlessly enchanting romantic comedy finds confirmed bachelor Hugh Grant (Nine Months) attending weddings with his single friends as they all lament not being able to commit. Grant keeps running into an attractive American (Andie MacDowell) at these festivities and begins a long-running affair with her, even as he attends her own wedding, the funeral of one of his best friends, and his own pending nuptials. Featuring a spirited supporting cast including Kristin Scott Thomas (The English Patient) as the acerbic friend quietly in love with Grant, this touching and funny film with a mischievous sense of humor and some truly heartbreaking moments is destined to become one of the classic romantic comedies of all time. --Robert Lane Customer Reviews: Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-06
Tasteless.
I never cared for Four Weddings and a Funeral. Andie MacDowell's character is disgusting, she sleeps aronund, plays with Hugh Grant's character affections and never seems to care about anyone but herself. The only reason I give this film 2 stars instead of 1 because this is Hugh Grant's breakout role and he is so charming in this one, god love him! The rest of the cast is annoying and wooden, if you want an intelligent british comedy then I recommend Bridget Jones's Diary which also has Grant as the romantic lead. Rating: 
Date: 2008-07-02
4 Weddings and a Funerala
This is to replace my VHS copy. I regard this film as one of my top 10 comedies and want it on a more substantial product. Rating: 
Date: 2008-06-19
Fine British Romantic Comedy
Mike Newell's stylish 1994 hit, "Four Weddings and a Funeral", expertly fulfills the traditional criteria of romantic comedy, the most important one being that (almost) everyone finds love with the right person - a conclusion never really in doubt (except in real life, of course), so this piece of information won't spoil anything. A fine cast that includes Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, and John Hannah, lend sparkle and charm to this tale of a group of long-time British friends who one by one are crossing from carefree, single blessedness into the marital state. Except for one, Charles (Hugh Grant), who just can't seem to get himself over that line, despite successive relationships with attractive women who all want to hook him.
Charles and his friends apparently occupy some blissful realm where little matters such as jobs and careers don't seem to exist. Two (Phoebe and her brother Tom) are obviously wealthy aristocrats, but it's a mystery how the others support themselves as they float around, showing up at one wedding after another and co-mingling at receptions with a clearly upper-class crowd in which all the women wear large expensive hats. All the same guests appear to show up at all the weddings.
I'm not a great fan of Hugh Grant, whose lip-biting, stammering, hair-pushing mannerisms drive me up the wall. However, the role of the emotionally infantile and gracelessly tactless Charles suits Grant almost too well, so it's hard to complain. As the film opens, Charles and his roommate, the eccentric Scarlett (a darling portrayal by the unfortunately deceased Charlotte Coleman), are off to the film's first wedding, where Charles, as usual, is the perennial Best Man. Already troubled by his inability to commit, at the reception he meets a pretty American woman, Carrie, played by the mind-bogglingly talentless Andie MacDowell, whose appearance is the only major flaw in this film. MacDowell could give Tippi Hedren a run for her money for the "Least Talented Actress Ever To Have A Career In Films" Award, and for the same reason: a hopelessly flat persona, voice, and delivery. This defect is particularly glaring amongst this group of top-notch British actors. MacDowell's flat delivery, devoid of nuance or imagination or color or shading of any kind, turns her lines into the dramatic equivalent of Wonder Bread. It's a shame someone on the level of the rest of the cast couldn't be found for this role.
At any rate, although Charles doesn't figure it out for quite some time (although, of course, the audience does), the Thunderbolt has finally hit him in the form of Carrie (whose presence at all these weddings is also never explained). For the rest of the film, we wait for Charles to acknowledge what everyone around him sees clearly, and, in the process, we are treated to three more weddings and that funeral. The second wedding contains a priceless turn by Britain's famed comedian, Rowan Atkinson, as a priest nervously performing his first marriage, and mangling the language of the wedding service as he does so.
The movie is also notable for including a happy gay couple (John Hannah and Simon Callow), without qualification or discussion. Callow, one of Britain's most distinguished stage and screen actors, gets to chew up the scenery a bit, while sharp-eyed devotees of BBC's "Wire in the Blood" and "MI-5" series's may spot a young Nicola Walker, later one of the lead detectives in "Wire" and an operative on "MI-5", as one of the maddening folk singers ("Can't live/without yuuuuuuuuu. . .") at the second wedding.
The outcome of the story is never really in doubt - as is often said, it's the journey, not the arrival, that counts. In this case, it's the wit and stylish performances (with the exception of MacDowell) that make this journey enjoyable (not to mention critiquing those varied wedding dresses, churches, flower arrangements, etc.). The traditions of romantic comedy make it easy to ignore such minor questions as, "When do these people work? What do they DO?!".
Nothing if not charming, "Four Weddings and a Funeral" goes down easy and raises many smiles. Rating:
Date: 2008-06-15
Coincidence?
This is an amusing movie. I ordered it as a gift for a friend who
is a fan of Hugh Grant. I had seen the movie years before and thought it
was the kind of romantic comedy she would like. Rating:
Date: 2008-03-18
Deluxe Edition of a Well-Loved Movie Worth Having
"Four Weddings and a Funeral," (1994) a British romantic comedy/drama, caused something of a sensation upon its release. It broke all records for worldwide box-office take by a British picture: and not very many British pictures since have done as well. It was received rapturously by many important critics, and was nominated for a "Best Picture" Academy Award. It boosted the careers of its director, Mike Newell, and most of its talented cast members. It also made its star, Hugh Grant, flavor of the decade - and counting -- as leading man of any English-speaking romantic comedy. It put its author, Richard Curtis, at the head of what has since become an English cottage industry, the creation of romantic Brit-coms (see "Notting Hill,""Love Actually,"etc.) Yet, when it was made, the budget was so tight that those glorious Scottish wedding scenes were all filmed in Hampshire, a Home County near London. And the numerous wedding scene extras were required to wear their own evening dress.
Most everyone knows the plot, but here goes. Charles (Grant) is one of a group of young friends looking unsuccessfully, it seems, for love. Charles is commitment-phobic; yet he, his roommate, Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman), and the crowd seem to spend every Saturday going, late, to weddings, where they are frequently members of the wedding parties. Disastrous best man speeches are made, rings are forgotten. Then Charles spots the beautiful American Carrie (Andie MacDowell) at a wedding, and much yearning ensues. Carrie announces her engagement to, and marries, a rich, older Scot, Hamish (Corin Redgrave). But, of course, true love triumphs and triumphs and triumphs. There are viewers that consider MacDowell's performance too passive, but everyone agrees Grant created the perfect romantic English lead, shy, stuttering, hair in his eyes. Coleman, who unfortunately died much too young, in an asthma attack, made Scarlett touching and real. Redgrave, well, of course.
The supporting cast was also uniformly excellent, and funny. Rowan Atkinson is hilarious in a small part as Father Gerald, priest in training. James Fleet does good work as Tom, the crowd's millionaire. Kristin Scott Thomas is beautiful, beautifully-dressed, witty, touching and intelligent as Tom's sister Fiona, who's unfortunate enough to love Charles. Theater stalwart Simon Callow shines as the gay Gareth; and, as for John Hannah, playing his lover Matthew; well, it's all been said, hasn't it. Though I'd add that I never yet have re watched this movie -- did so again last night--without being reduced to tears by his reading of WH Auden's "Funeral Blues" poem at Gareth's untimely funeral.
If you love the movie, the Deluxe Edition is useful. Its extras are very helpful: Audio Commentary with filmmakers, "Wedding Planners" Documentary, "Two Actors and a Director" featurette, and the featurette on the making of the film. The deleted scenes are uniformly funny, too, and give us a bit more back-story of the characters, which the movie doesn't give us a lot of.
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