My Best Friend's Wedding - Like All Weddings, Some Bliss, Some Boredom
Julia Roberts plays a confident and driven woman named Julianne. As a food critic, she is very busy, independent, and too rapt up in her ambitions for love. At dinner with another friend, George (Rupert Everett), she reminisces about her best friend, Michael (Dermot Mulroney). He is someone who she had loved but dumped in college. Now, she and Michael are best friends. They've shared the most intimate stories, they've trekked through life's worst woes, and they've even made a blood pact. When Julianne turns 28, if neither of them has gotten married, then they will marry each other.
Of course, it is just a few weeks before her 28th birthday, and Michael has left a message on her answering machine for her to call him. Could this be the moment when she faces the consequences of her pact? She doesn't know what to think, but when she finally calls him back, partially expecting a proposal, he gives her some news that literally floors her. He's calling to explain he's engaged to be married in three days. Her heart has been squashed. She now realizes that Michael is no longer her best friend, but the man that she truly loves.
She flies to Chicago to meet up with Michael. But secretly, she will try to do whatever she can to separate the two and take him back. Her task is formidable. His fiancee is Kim Wallace (Cameron Diaz). She is sweet as pie, smooth as vanilla and her father is a tycoon. What we get is a sequence of episodes where Roberts craftily tries to create a rift, but somehow the plan always backfires. But, she deserves to be with Michael…or does she?
As a whole, this is a semi-sweet movie about friendships and hidden feelings and trying to cross that boundary when it may be too late. And it was nice to take a break from all those smash-em-up/crash-em-up/shoot-em-up films. However, the movie seems to be undecided as to its dedication towards Julianne's quest for her man or Michael's love for Kim. There wasn't too much romantic tension among any of the three. Also, when our sympathies begin to shift, the movie loses its direction. Further, Michael doesn't seem to have an ounce of chemistry with either woman, so the story tends to drag as it looks for some kind of burst of energy. Fortunately, we get an antidote of playful wisdom from George, who is Julianne's boss. He is gay and steals his scenes with deft comic charm. More than just a co-conspirator for Julianne, he provides moments of levity and good transition as the movie tries to navigate through this three-day story. But when he's not there, the movie begins to drift.
Yet, it's nice to welcome back Julia Roberts who recently endured roles for which no one cared (Michael Collins and Mary Reilly). Romantic vehicles are where she excels, and she delivers a charismatically luminescent performance in MBFW. Rupert Everett is also a joy to watch and adds an unexpected comical dimension as Julianne's boss and soul mate. This movie would have been a lot stronger if it focused more on these two. The interplay between Michael and Kim is quite dull. The interplay between Michael and Julianne was only mildly interesting (and just between you and me, I would have preferred one of the cast of FRIENDS - maybe Chandler or Joey - play Michael. At least, the relationship would have been more interesting if not funnier). Fortunately, Julianne and George are instrumental in the film's closing scenes, and thus helps to lift MBFW from a boring wedding to one with a couple of moments worth savoring. Still, there are better affairs of which to be a part.
Grade: C+
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