Review of My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) by Daniel A — 20 Jan 2011

It's watchable and sporadically funny, but the central character is such a deplorable, manipulative bitch it's difficult to get behind her harebrained antics and not wish for her painful demise.

Clearly director P. J. Hogan, who has basically plagiarised his own work by creating this American version of Muriel's Wedding, is relying on our universal love for Julia Roberts to enjoy this movie. Fair play to him, Roberts is as big-haired and vibrant and as ever, and her hefty fan base saw to it that this movie was a big success back in the late nineties. However for the more casual Roberts fan, My Best Friend's Wedding will undoubtedly be a struggle.

Roberts plays Julianne, an attractive but decidedly self-centered woman who attempts to destroy her best friend's engagement as she realises that she actually loves him. Already you can predict the direction the movie is going; she'll discreetly play the fiancées against each other, making use of her long friendship with the groom in order to oust the soon-to-be bride. Of course this will lead to some hilarious moments, followed by an emotional climax where she must profess her love to the friend, uncaringly ruining several lives in the process.

Resultantly no amount of comedic timing or slapstick jaunts from Roberts can make this character seem like anything but the callous little home wrecker she is. In a narrative so reliant on its central character, this is an issue that completely overshadows any positives in the movie. For example Rupert Everett steals scene after scene as Julianne's gay best friend. On the eve of the Will & Grace 'gay-boyfriend' explosion the film is clearly ahead of its time, and Everett fits the part perfectly. However his impressive turn is very much secondary to the overall plot, and thus acts only as sidekick to Roberts' schemes. Similarly Cameron Diaz shows much of the charisma that would go on to make her a great leading lady in her own right, but again it's quashed under the weight of the triteness of the story.

Furthermore a number of cringe-worthy musical numbers fall collectively flat, while the apparently witty script is only humourous in parts. Regardless of this My Best Friend's Wedding is still serviceable entertainment if you're looking for a star-driven, brainless rom-com, however this is not a film I would recommend to anyone other than the easily amused.