A wedding is a situation ripe for comedy, something
Richard Curtis obviously knew when he wrote “Four Weddings and a Funeral” which
was directed by Mike Newell in 1994. It began a frequent collaboration between
Curtis and the movie’s protagonist, Hugh Grant, who became a star in North
America thanks to the movie’s success. Nowadays Grant’s character seems all too
familiar as he has played similar bumbling romantics in many other comedies in
the decade following the movie, but the first time around you can’t deny he is
a perfect fit for Curtis’ writing.
The first time I watched this movie was during family
movie night with my mom, my brother and I. Of course my mom picked that title
since she was a fan of Grant. I was sold on my love of Rowan Atkinson (BlackAdder) who plays a priest who is clearly not ready for the job. I had never
been to a wedding yet, so this was a bit like watching a movie set in Cuba:
you’ve never been there, but you might someday. As it turns out, I did go there
in 2011 when I attended my first wedding, that is to say my cousin’s wedding.
It didn’t have as many funny situations as this movie, but of course there were
of few friends with embarrassing speeches. It didn’t sell me on the whole
wedding concept, but on the plus side: open bar.
As the title says, “Four Weddings…” follows Englishman
Charles (Grant) as he attends three weddings, a funeral, and finally his own
wedding. In the first wedding Charles acts as the best man, while he and his
collection of single friends wonder if they will ever get married themselves.
Charles meets Carrie (Andie MacDowell) an American woman living in England only
for the wedding. They have a one-night stand and ponder on what could have been
since they will probably never see each other again.
Carrie returns to England for the second wedding, only
this time she is engaged to Sir Hamish Banks (Corin Redgrave), a wealthy
Scottish politician. It’s bad enough that the woman you might be in love with
is engaged, but engaged to a man with a “sir” in front of his name? Feeling
dejected, Charles finds himself at a table with several of his ex-girlfriends
who share embarrassing stories about him.
The third wedding is Carrie’s, and oddly enough
Charles is invited. Despite the fact that Charles and Carrie keep running into
each other at weddings, and that Charles does awkwardly declare his love for
her before the wedding, there is no indication that these two are simply meant
to be together. Carrie’s engagement is a realistic story development, just like
Charles rekindling a relationship with an ex-girlfriend in between weddings.
There is no such thing as “meant to be.” There are possibilities and failures.
Maybe this relationship will work, maybe it won’t. When you say, “I do” you’re
just throwing the dices.
Each wedding in the movie has the classic wedding
characters: the best man with the inappropriate speech, the immature groomsmen,
and a priest who keeps messing up his lines (Rowan Atkinson). One of the
funniest situations involves Charles getting stuck in a bathroom while the
bride and groom are having sex in the adjacent room. That will make for an
awkward conversation the next time they see each other over drinks.
Of course there is also that moment when the priest
says, “if anyone believes these two should not marry, let him speak now or
forever hold his piece.” Someone does raise his hand, but it is Charles’
brother, who, even though he is deaf, does say something no bride ever wants to
hear, even if it is said with sign language.
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