Review of Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) by Rainer K — 15 Sep 2012

After a busy week or two I'm back in the movie saddle.

The viewing of Four Weddings and a Funeral brings me nearer to my goal to see as many of the Best Picture nominees from the past twenty years as possible.

It's not the only reason I watched it naturally. It was written by Richard Curtis (one of the best and most entertaining rom-com writers out there) and stars Hugh Grant (who I wholeheartedly admire) in his charming youth.

For a rom-com, FWAAF was considerably critically acclaimed and awarded and although I must admit that it's enjoyable to watch and has its fun parts (more on that later) it's also quite forgettable and the premise wears a bit thin after a while. I don't see the greatness anywhere in it, only decency on various levels.

But let's discuss the aforementioned fun parts. FWAAF has a bunch of them - Rowan Atkinson for example who plays a priest in training performing a not-so-flawless wedding ceremony. Or Simon Callow, as the colourful and extroverted Gareth. Or the awesome British accents. Or the handful of memorable lines which appear in greater number as the film evolves - the script (and the film) gets better with continuance of the film as we get to know the characters.

Nevertheless, it has a certain TV movie appeal and at times an amateurish look for better or worse.

Not one of my favourites by any means but I've seen worse and watching it one time won't hurt anybody.