Four Weddings and a Funeral deserves special credit in the romantic comedy and drama genre if for no other reason than being the film that catapulted Hugh Grant into the spotlight. As the committal-fearing single with his heart set on a girl that he only ever sees at weddings (specifically four of them) and a funeral, Grant played his part with the sort of bumbling charm that he’s used to advantage quite a bit ever since. Luckily for him, that nervous quality is exactly what the film called for and so it worked well with the smart script, and fantastic performances from the likes of Andie MacDowell, Simon Callow, John Hannah, and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Whether it’s in America or England, weddings are an event where two people express their love for one another, and their single friends approaching their late 20s or early 30s begin searching desperately for a mutual acquaintance to shack up and then, possibly, settle down with. For the sake of Four Weddings and a Funeral, this is the life of Charles (Grant) and his group of close friends as they move from one wedding to the next looking for some glimmer of hope that a happy romance is in their future. Charles meets Carrie (MacDowell) at the wedding of mutual friends and they share an instant attraction that leads to the typical one night stand. Unfortunately for Charles, he never seems to see Carrie unless it’s at such events, and so every time they meet again, a few months have passed and there’s a new obstacle to their finally getting to start something serious, eventually leading both Charles and Carrie to different marriages. Will time ever reconcile their divergent paths?
Four Weddings and a Funeral relies heavily on the snappy performances of the ensemble cast and their talent for comedic timing so that Richard Curtis’s witty writing pays off. Hugh Grant proves his mettle for starts and stutters in a funny way, and makes for a convincing leading man as he navigates hellish weddings of family, ex-girlfriends, and poor timing. Andie MacDowell is beautiful, and when coached right (as she was here or in Groundhog’s Day), she does well in comedy. However there are a few oddly nuanced deliveries in some of her lines and it can be somewhat distracting. Of the supporting cast, Simon Callow upstages just about everyone as the jolly man who imbued with the spirit of Bacchus and the other half of John Hannah’s much more understated but equally great performance. It’s remarkable how this 1994 film handled a homosexual relationship better and more tastefully than countless others of recent years, and it never once descends into caricature, instead turning in a very tender relationship which just might be (ironically), the most meaningful in the whole film (especially once you get to the funeral).
Richard Curtis had a clever idea when he decided to isolate the relationship of two people by comprising it solely of meet ups at celebrations of love and death of mutual friends. It’s hard to conceive otherwise of a way where you could legitimately make a lighthearted drama and comedy about two fated lovers and keep it plausible that they’re not seeing each other more often. While there is one other encounter between the two, and admittedly one of significance, that doesn’t take place solely at a wedding or funeral, the film Curtis and Newell solve the nagging question of “If you love her, why don’t you go after her?” by first making her an American (and thus not so easy to go get on a whim), then by making her engaged and subsequently married, effectively fixing all their problems.
Of course, if you’re a seasoned fan of the romance genre, you’ve got to figure that the guy’s going to get the girl and so you start imagining a hitch must come along, and perhaps by not giving into that predictable ending Curtis could have written a slightly more surprising film, but he didn’t really need to. As is, we’re left with that warm glow pre-tempered by the sobering departure of a well-written and wholly likable character, so it never feels too saccharine, even with the scene in the rain at the end.
The Blu-ray transfer is crisp and it manages to make the events depicted all the more extravagant and vivid. The picture really shines at times, even if it’s not a flashy action picture, and the audio can be quite immersive, especially in the final wedding scene.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
The extras include: a featurette on the working relationship between Newell, Grant, and MacDowell; a basic making-of piece; a roughly 30-minute documentary featuring Mike Newell, Richard Curtis, and Producer Duncan Kenworthy talking about the challenges in creating the film and how it evolved as a project from the writing to the casting. An audio commentary and deleted scenes round out the set.
"Four Weddings and a Funeral" is on sale July 5, 2011 and is rated R. Directed by Mike Newell. Written by Richard Curtis. Starring Andie Macdowell, Hugh Grant, Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, John Hannah.
