"My Best Friend's Wedding" is basically your traditional romantic sitcom, but its smarter than most. This is partly because its characters are likeable and realistic, and also because it doesn't hedge its bets on the heroine, played by Julia Roberts as a flawed woman but earnest in her desire to win over the man she recently discovered she loves.
The movie opens by introducing us to Robert's character, named Julianne, a successful food critic who is having a conversation with her editor, George, as she prepares her latest review. She describes to him how she met her best friend, Michael, and how they had a brief fling and remained close afterward. They made the kind of promise you make when you're young and drunk, that if they were both still single when they turned 28, they would marry each other. She hasn't heard from him in months, but just got a phone message from him that he really needs to talk to her, right away. She assumes, naturally, that he's going to propose.
He surprises her by informing her that he has proposed, all right, to someone else (she falls off the bed as she hears this). He wants her to come to the wedding, and she agrees, reluctantly, and hysterically describes to George that she has "four days to ruin this", she says, angrily describing how "he was in love with me for nine years!" Later on, though, she realizes that she really does love the guy, and is desperate to make him realize that he loves her, too (if, in fact, he does).
Most movies like this would make the intended bride to be someone unpleasant, so that we would feel good about the way the heroine breaks things up. But in this case she turns out to be nice; named Kimberly and played by Cameron Diaz, she has an attractive, sunny personality that we like immediately. She gives Julianne a big hug when she meets her, asks her to be her maid-of-honor, and says "I have four days to make you my new best friend." She understands the way Michael feels about her, and confesses that she felt competitive at first but decided that "You win. He's got you on a pedestal and me in his arms."
This defuses any real way that Kimberly could be the villain, and indeed, even Julianne has a hard time scheming against her, admitting that "I could adore her, if I didn't hate her so much." But scheme she does, first making Kimberly sing at a karaoke bar, revealing how terrible her singing voice is, and later creating an argument for them. Both fail to accomplish anything. But she's only getting started, and soon has committed a deed so nasty (I won't say what) that we begin, surprisingly, to turn against her somewhat. If she doesn't succeed, we'll feel that she is only getting what she deserves.
Julianne could save herself, and everyone else, a lot of grief if she simply took George's advice and told Michael how she feels but, of course, then there wouldn't be much of a movie. And it's hard not to appreciate her fear to learn exactly how Michael feels about her. On the other hand, rejection couldn't be nearly as bad as what Julianne does to try to destroy Michael and Kimberly's wedding, and their happiness.
The movie is interesting in the way it sets up its characters and the situation, and makes us really care about what will happen. Because we like Julianne but can't condone her actions, and Kimberly comes off as such a nice person, we're not sure how the plot will work out. That was a welcome surprise for me, since most movies like this are predictable right down to the ending. I also liked the way the movie focuses on Julianne's point of view and didn't try to follow all the characters around on their own. In one scene, when Julianne is pursing someone down a busy highway, we don't get a silly chase seen with external shots of the cars being driven by professionals. Instead, the camera stays with Julianne and we get a better sense of her desperation.
The movie has good actors doing good work. Diaz has the challenge of making us like Kimberly even though she represents an obstacle to Julianne's happiness. Dermot Mulroney creates a interesting character out of Michael, making him intelligent and caring; at a crucial moment he is able to read a situation in two different ways, and chooses the one that is more understanding. Rupert Everett is enjoyable as George; although he's gay, he comes to Julianne's aid by playing the part of her fiance, but understands how insane her plan is and states firmly to her that "there is still a very small window of opportunity left for you to do the right thing."
But Roberts has the toughest role, because she has to play the heroine and the villain all rolled into one. She is convincing in her ability to win us over even while we disagree with her tactics. Funny, how we sometimes don't notice when we love someone until the opportunity to do something about it has passed us by. Why are we wired like that? Wouldn't it be easier to be aware of our feelings when it was still practical? Ah, but then movies like this one wouldn't exist.
The movie opens by introducing us to Robert's character, named Julianne, a successful food critic who is having a conversation with her editor, George, as she prepares her latest review. She describes to him how she met her best friend, Michael, and how they had a brief fling and remained close afterward. They made the kind of promise you make when you're young and drunk, that if they were both still single when they turned 28, they would marry each other. She hasn't heard from him in months, but just got a phone message from him that he really needs to talk to her, right away. She assumes, naturally, that he's going to propose.
He surprises her by informing her that he has proposed, all right, to someone else (she falls off the bed as she hears this). He wants her to come to the wedding, and she agrees, reluctantly, and hysterically describes to George that she has "four days to ruin this", she says, angrily describing how "he was in love with me for nine years!" Later on, though, she realizes that she really does love the guy, and is desperate to make him realize that he loves her, too (if, in fact, he does).
Most movies like this would make the intended bride to be someone unpleasant, so that we would feel good about the way the heroine breaks things up. But in this case she turns out to be nice; named Kimberly and played by Cameron Diaz, she has an attractive, sunny personality that we like immediately. She gives Julianne a big hug when she meets her, asks her to be her maid-of-honor, and says "I have four days to make you my new best friend." She understands the way Michael feels about her, and confesses that she felt competitive at first but decided that "You win. He's got you on a pedestal and me in his arms."
This defuses any real way that Kimberly could be the villain, and indeed, even Julianne has a hard time scheming against her, admitting that "I could adore her, if I didn't hate her so much." But scheme she does, first making Kimberly sing at a karaoke bar, revealing how terrible her singing voice is, and later creating an argument for them. Both fail to accomplish anything. But she's only getting started, and soon has committed a deed so nasty (I won't say what) that we begin, surprisingly, to turn against her somewhat. If she doesn't succeed, we'll feel that she is only getting what she deserves.
Julianne could save herself, and everyone else, a lot of grief if she simply took George's advice and told Michael how she feels but, of course, then there wouldn't be much of a movie. And it's hard not to appreciate her fear to learn exactly how Michael feels about her. On the other hand, rejection couldn't be nearly as bad as what Julianne does to try to destroy Michael and Kimberly's wedding, and their happiness.
The movie is interesting in the way it sets up its characters and the situation, and makes us really care about what will happen. Because we like Julianne but can't condone her actions, and Kimberly comes off as such a nice person, we're not sure how the plot will work out. That was a welcome surprise for me, since most movies like this are predictable right down to the ending. I also liked the way the movie focuses on Julianne's point of view and didn't try to follow all the characters around on their own. In one scene, when Julianne is pursing someone down a busy highway, we don't get a silly chase seen with external shots of the cars being driven by professionals. Instead, the camera stays with Julianne and we get a better sense of her desperation.
The movie has good actors doing good work. Diaz has the challenge of making us like Kimberly even though she represents an obstacle to Julianne's happiness. Dermot Mulroney creates a interesting character out of Michael, making him intelligent and caring; at a crucial moment he is able to read a situation in two different ways, and chooses the one that is more understanding. Rupert Everett is enjoyable as George; although he's gay, he comes to Julianne's aid by playing the part of her fiance, but understands how insane her plan is and states firmly to her that "there is still a very small window of opportunity left for you to do the right thing."
But Roberts has the toughest role, because she has to play the heroine and the villain all rolled into one. She is convincing in her ability to win us over even while we disagree with her tactics. Funny, how we sometimes don't notice when we love someone until the opportunity to do something about it has passed us by. Why are we wired like that? Wouldn't it be easier to be aware of our feelings when it was still practical? Ah, but then movies like this one wouldn't exist.