MURIEL'S WEDDING
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1995 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: A homely young woman with
questionable values learns some self esteem in a
plot with some unexpected twists, but which is
ultimately quite predictable. Writer}director
P. J. Hogan takes some chances of alienating
viewers from Muriel's character. Rating: high +1
(-4 to +4) text
Reminiscent of British comedy/dramas of the 60s, particularly GEORGY GIRL, the Australian MURIEL'S WEDDING tells the story of a misfit finding self-esteem. And while the film takes a lot of unexpected turns along the way, its ultimate destination is obvious from the beginning.
Muriel (Toni Collette) is an over-weight and ungainly young woman with absolutely no fashion sense. Her home is the Australian town of Porpoise Spit--I kid you not. The clique of snooty school chums whom Muriel considers her friends ostracize her for just being too frumpy to be in their exalted presence. Muriel gets little emotional support at home from one of the ugliest families we have seen in film in a long while, headed by an overly critical and unsupportive father (Bill Hunter). Our sympathies at first are with Muriel, but soon we find her repeatedly stealing, first to have a dress to wear to a wedding and then in order to be able to take a vacation with the women she considers her friends--without their consent, incidentally. On the vacation Muriel discovers the vivacious and instantly likable Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths), actually an old school friend, who strikes up an unexpected close friendship with Muriel. Much like the relationship in HEAVENLY CREATURES, the very differences in their personality types binds the two young women together. But though the two form a solid platonic relationship, events would soon take place that would place heavy demands on that friendship.
MURIEL'S WEDDING was written and directed by P. J. Hogan, her-- admittedly I am assuming it is a her--first such effort. And it shows in the freshness and the feel for unexpected situations in Hogan's writing. If this film were made in America, Muriel would likely be written as an entirely sympathetic character. Ironically, sympathetic characters in American films live either apparently entirely moral lives or are rebels and live entirely outside the law. Of course in life there are a lot of people who are in the gray area being mostly honest and decent, but who would steal a little here or there and maybe cheat on their taxes just a bit if they thought they could get away with it. That is the sort of person Muriel is. People in her world blame each other for their own shortcomings.
Muriel's love of slightly tacky ABBA songs, matching her questionable taste in clothing, is reflected Peter Best's score which relies heavily on ABBA songs and a score that relies heavily on dramatic variations on ABBA melodies. As the Australians do so well, this is not so much a good film but a clever reworking of a cliched plot. It takes several unexpected turns, but ends up where everyone knew it was going all along. I give it a high +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mark.leeper@att.com
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