Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994)

	Directed by: Mike Newell	COUNTRY United Kingdom GENRE Romance/Comedy NORWEGIAN TITLE Fire bryllup og en gravferd RUNNING TIME 117 minutes
	Produced by: Duncan Kenworthy
	Written by: Richard Curtis

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Charles	Hugh Grant
Carrie	Andie MacDowell	½
Fiona	Kristin Scott-Thomas	½
Gareth	Simon Callow	½
Scarlett	Charlotte Coleman
Tom	James Fleet	-
Matthew	John Hannah
David	David Bower	-
Hamish Banks	Corin Redgrave	-
Father Gerald	Rowan Atkinson	-

Review

A young and sprouting Hugh Grant and a rather clever narrative structure lay the basis for this enjoyable romantic comedy, which took the world by storm upon release in 1994, winning both the critics’ accolades and the public’s approval. It was director Mike Newell’s real first international success, but the star behind the camera was screenwriter Richard Curtis (later of Notting Hill and Love Actually). Telling the entire story solely via the five events mentioned in the title is a crafty little trick. The good news is that you get a free-flowing, fly-on-the-wall peek into the lives of these characters. The bad news is that it does occasionally become affected and cluttered. Still, the real reason FW doesn’t quite work on its main level, which is of course the central romance, is that Andie MacDowall’s character and performance leave a lot to be desired. We don’t get any justification for Charles’ lasting, headlong infatuation with Carrie, other than the fact that she’s attractive (and possibly American). You end up feeling that the vivacious and sympathetic Charles deserves better than the underwritten, shallow and morally dubious Carrie. So when the film’s final wedding comes around, and the film reaches its pivotal scene, it loses all the down-to-earth, natural charm it has built its existence on up until this point.