Romancefest 2016: Muriel's Wedding

I've been waiting for this one all month! I saw MURIEL'S WEDDING years ago but I couldn't remember anything about it. I've been saving it for a time when I was able to sit down with my girlfriend so we could watch it together. This Australian flick from 1994 was directed by PJ Hogan, who also directed MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING from earlier in R-fest. Apparently he's good at flicks about weddings!

Seriously, though. MURIEL'S WEDDING benefits hugely from the fact that it stars the great Toni Collette as the title character, an awkward but lovable woman who still lives at home but dreams of the day she'll have her own beautiful wedding. When she feels down, she pops in her ABBA tape and it lifts her up. As the movie opens, her lousy friends berate her for daring to catch the bouquet at a wedding, and then she's busted for showing up in a shop lifted outfit (leopard print) and unceremoniously dragged out of the party by cops.

So it's not a good day for Muriel and when she gets home we see it is not a good life: all the adult children still live at home, her dad is an over-bearing failed politician (Bill Hunter) who never misses a chance to tell his kids how worthless they are, and her mom (Jeanie Drynan) has withdrawn into submission in his wake and mostly just stares, dazed and in denial.

Without getting into too much detail, Muriel scams her way into some money, follows her awful "friends" (Sophie Lee, Pippa Grandison and Belinda Jarrett) on vacation after they ditch her, and finds her life turning around for the better when she meets up with a free-spirited old classmate (Rachel Griffiths) who helps Muriel believe in herself, and also loves ABBA.

Unfortunately, like most of us, Muriel is not perfect, so even as she moves to Sydney to start a new life with her new friend, and even as things are looking up, she continues to dig holes with lies and fantasies as her family attempts to track her down and she continues to dream of her glorious wedding. Griffiths runs into some medical problems (cancer) and Muriel tries to help take care of her, but something has to give when she's on her marriage mission.

I said I wouldn't get into too much detail, and I guess I have, but there's one more thing: Muriel eventually hatches a scheme to marry an athlete (Daniel Lapaine) just so he can stay in the country, but at what cost? How long can she stay in her fantasies and denial before real life comes calling?

That's the interesting thing about this movie, and aside from Collette's performance, the best thing about the movie: it is a one-sided romantic comedy. That is, it's about Collette's character, and not about a central relationship with Collette. Yes, there's the marriage scheme, but that's almost a footnote where most movies would make it the central plot. No, this movie is about Collette finding herself, finding her independence, learning what kind of person she wants to be, and how that differs from maybe the person she has fantasized about becoming. She has to take a hard look at what she likes and dislikes about the people around her, and decide which values she wants to embrace. Is the surface really that important? Does it matter what people think of her? Or is there something else more important?

Most romantic comedies never even begin to touch that kind of stuff. Only the best ones. And even then, they're still primarily relationship oriented. Which is fine. That's the genre, after all. But MURIEL'S WEDDING breaks the mold. It's about a unique character in a unique way and has as much affection for her as it has for Rachel Griffiths, for her mean friends and for her sad family.

Now that I think of it, MY BEST FRIEND'S WEDDING is similar in that regard. There is a central relationship driving most of the movie, but the ending of the film is not dependent on it. It's more about Roberts' character learning something about herself and becoming a better person. Good job, PJ Hogan.

It's so nice to see Muriel's smiling closeup at the end of the movie and feel like the character has really earned it. You can really be proud of her. You don't know where she is going, but you know where she's been and what she's learned and you know her smile is worth it.