MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING
A film review by Scott Renshaw
Copyright 1997 Scott Renshaw
(Tri-Star) Starring: Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett. Screenplay: Ronald Bass. Producers: Ronald Bass and Jerry Zucker. Director: P. J. Hogan. MPAA Rating: PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) Running Time: 105 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
In 1990, at the ripe old age of 22, Julia Roberts became a Movie Star. She didn't plan it that way -- you _can't_ plan it that way -- but PRETTY WOMAN placed her in that rarefied stratum of film performers audiences will come to see on the strength of their names. The trade-off, of course, was that they would want to see her in very specific circumstances: beautiful and in love (PRETTY WOMAN, SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT) or beautiful and in danger (SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY, THE PELICAN BRIEF). For a couple of years, Roberts tried to fight for her right to be a Serious Actress, taking less glamorous roles (MARY REILLY) or supporting roles (MICHAEL COLLINS, EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU) for A-list directors, but the audience made its voice heard: "We want our Pretty Woman back."
In MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING, Roberts concedes to being a Movie Star once again. With her hair long and curly and her smile out in full force, she plays Julianne Potter, a food critic as choosy about her men as she is about her creme brulee. One of her former lovers, Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney), is also her best friend and confidante, the closest thing Julianne has to "one that got away." And indeed he may be getting away for good after calling to inform Julianne that he is getting married in four days. The impending nuptials spark Julianne to the realization that she really wants Michael for herself, and that she's ready to break up the happy couple to do it. She isn't expecting to find that Michael's fiancee Kimmy (Cameron Diaz) is "annoyingly perfect," making the task of snaring Michael a genuine challenge.
That premise sets the stage for some potentially outrageous comedy of the "all's fair in love and war" variety, but Roberts never looks entirely comfortable with being outrageous. The interpretation of Movie Star-dom adopted by Roberts, screenwriter Ronald Bass and director P. J. Hogan (MURIEL'S WEDDING) involves never being anything less than likeable, never doing anything which risks turning the audience against you. They don't understand that one of the perqs of being a Movie Star is that the audience is always ready to be on your side. It's no great revelation that there are only two possible outcomes in MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING -- either Julianne will triumph over an out-classed opponent, or she'll learn in important lesson and make a sacrifice. In either case, we're ready to be amused by her machinations before we get to that outcome; we greet Julianne's announcement that Kimmy is "toast" with a chuckle of anticipation, not a sigh of disapproval.
The reason MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING isn't a better comedy, the reason it meanders but rarely soars, is that Julianne's feeble efforts are about as likely to toast Kimmy as a hot water bottle is to toast bread. Bass's script is guided by the idea that Julianne's hands should never get too dirty. She types up a phony email from Kimmy's father, but it is left to someone else to send it (quite accidentally); she announces that her gay friend George (Rupert Everett) is her fiancee to make Michael jealous, then sits back while George plays the role to the hilt. Roberts has some wonderful reaction shots in MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING, but she reacts far more than she acts. In one of the film's most ironic lines, Julianne apologizes to Michael for all the "awful and not even terribly imaginative things" she has done. Bass might have been better served coming up with more imaginative things rather than apologizing for the ones he came up with.
Surprisingly, MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING is still fairly entertaining, thanks to a few unexpected bursts of irreverence. Director Hogan, who is turning into a prime candidate to direct a musical some day, continues his fascination with lip-synching to pop chestnuts, setting a slick opening credits sequence to "Wishin' and Hopin'" and turning a rehearsal dinner into an impromptu sing-along to "I Say a Little Prayer." The latter scene is a showcase for Rupert Everett, whose hilarious supporting work as George eliminates all fears of yet another "gay friend" character. His every moment on screen gives the film a jolt of comic energy, and proves that it is possible to be both devilish and thoroughly appealing. Julia Roberts could have learned a few things by studying his performance. If this is what she feared about Movie Star roles -- that they would require her merely to show up, smile and toss her hair -- she may have had good reason to be concerned. While MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING is pretty amusing, Roberts' return to being a Pretty Woman is pretty ordinary.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 wedded blitzes: 6.
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