Four Weddings and a Funeral

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Funny story, but if anyone were to ask me to name any romantic comedy, my mind actually jumps to this title. This is despite liking Richard Curtis' other famous love story title, 'Love, Actually' quite a bit more. And from the looks of it, I seem to be the odd one out, which I always enjoy because it further proves I don't always "fall in with the crowd". To be perfectly fair, this is a delightfully charming romantic comedy with well-timed British humour. But once again, we have one that's probably just... not for me.

The story is nice and simple too, so get ready for a pretty short review. At the wedding reception, the best man, Charles (Hugh Grant) becomes smitten with an American girl named Carrie (Andie MacDowell), and the two leave together for a fairly romantic one-night stand. As the film unfolds, their paths constantly cross as their respective affection for one another develops over the course of four separate weddings and a funeral (and no, you don't get to know who's funeral it is). The way the story flows may seem fairly typical today, but to be fair, this was 1994, and this quality of romantic comedy was almost pioneered by this movie.

What I mean when I say "quality" is that there is a bit of realism to the movies that Curtis makes. Perhaps that doesn't always lie in the execution of them, but the characters have a very human side and show the audience a bit of variety. I can say with all honesty that I don't find this to be a boring movie, as if I'm some kid made to watch his Mom's stories on TV. I did get a few genuine chuckles, and I pretty much always love it when Rowan Atkinson pops up (he's in this too). But for me, this isn't ever going to really become a go-to like 'Love, Actually' has become.

'Love, Actually' has something about it that reminds me that "love" comes in a whole bunch of different forms. It's a feel-good movie I can watch when I really need to feel something warm the heart and has actually become something of an annual Christmas watch. This, however, just doesn't have anything really deep going on with it. It's another movie about two respective paths crossing, whether or not it's "meant to be", and it ends very predictably (in my opinion, anyway). I think at this point it's just sort of "old news", and I've been charmed by other similar stories since.

This is a title I might recommend to a fairly well-established married couple for a charming date night that might remind them of why they got married in the first place. As for your average single person, it's a hit or miss. It all depends on how charming you find Hugh Grant and Andie MacDowell; both of whom you'd probably sooner know from other titles these days. This movie is just fine for what it is, and I have no real complaints about it at all. But once again, this isn't a title that was made with me as its target audience, so if you like a decent romantic comedy, check it out.

3/5

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