8/31/04

Muriel's Wedding

All Muriel ever wanted was to be a bride. Beautiful dress. Beautiful music. Beautiful bridesmaids. Beautiful flowers. Beautiful ceremony. ...Groom? Not so much...

They live in a little Australian enclave called 'Porpoise Spit' and Muriel's father likes to think he runs it all. At the same time, Dad makes sure she, her sad-sack siblings and her mother never forget what worthless, useless, homely, good-for-nothings they all are.

Therein lies the tale....

Here is part of the cast:
  • Toni Collette ("Lucky Them") is Muriel, overweight, under- employed, overlooked, and under appreciated. She is socially inept, victimized by the mean girls in her circle and cruelly bullied by her classmates. She steals, she lies and she stumbles, but she really, really wants to be a bride!
  • Rachel Griffiths ("Brothers & Sisters") is Rhonda, someone who springs to Muriel's defense and is the best friend she has ever had.
  • Bill Hunter ("Strictly Ballroom") is Bill, Muriel's cruel, selfish father. He is politically ambitious and his family is disposable.
  • Jeanie Drynan is Betty, Muriel's inept mother, found wanting by every single person in her life.
  • Matt Day (Lots of TV) is Brice, who wants very much to be Muriel's boyfriend.
You won't believe the unexpected turns of events that take place, the lessons learned, the dreams dashed, the surprise wedding, and the poignantly happy ending.

This is R-rated because of the language and bits of nudity, so don't expect an Australian Snow White, okay? But relax, it has closed captions, so you won't be defeated by the accents. And you'll LOVE the sound- track, it's wonderful! Many, many popular songs of the day (1994), but I got the most pleasure from the music of Abba, "Fernando," "Dancing Queen," "I Do, I Do, I Do," "Waterloo," you get the idea...
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See what I mean?
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