Review of My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) by Moya W — 02 Jan 2011

Julia Roberts' considerable on screen charisma anchors MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING, a romantic comedy with a twist that may or may not have you cheering for our girl to come out on top. Roberts plays a food critic named Julianne who learns that her ex-boyfriend Michael (Dermot Mulroney) is getting married and he asks her to come to the wedding and be his "Best Man.

" Upon her arrival for the wedding festivities and meeting the bride-to-be, Kim (Cameron Diaz), Julianne decides that she wants Michael back and pulls out every dirty trick she can think of to break them up.

This mission gets complicated when the fiancée asks Julianne to be her maid of honor. There are a lot of comic situations that arise from this premise, but it is a little unsettling as well because, deep down, we know that what Julianne is doing is wrong, but part of us wants her to win, whether we want to admit or not, because Roberts still manages to evoke our sympathies as Julianne especially when we learn that it is Julianne who broke off the relationship with Michael and that his new fiancée gives him everything that Julianne couldn't't.

..like the ability to be affectionate in public, but seeing Michael so happy ignites the Mr. Hyde in Julianne. She even asks her gay best friend, George (Rupert Everett) to pretend to be her fiancée to make Michael jealous.

The scene where George tells Kim's family how he and Julianne met is hysterical. Whether or not Julianne succeeds in her mission should not be revealed here for those who haven't seen the film,but know that the film works for the most part thanks to some smart writing, a winning performance by Roberts and a scene-stealing turn by Everett as George.

It's not PRETTY WOMAN, but if you accept that going in , it's a pleasant ride.