"Four Weddings and a Funeral" (1994)

 

So we decided to watch a movie last night, and we wanted something light and funny, and we selected "Four Weddings and a Funeral", a 1994 British made RomCom that I had recorded off of TCM a few weeks ago.  Linda had never seen it.  I was certain that I had seen it, but as I watched, I realized that this was indeed a first time viewing for me.

We loved it.

The story revolves around a group of friends in Britain who seem to do nothing but attend weddings, while all the time wondering if true love will ever happen for them.  It stars Hugh Grant, a big star now, of course, but relatively unknown then, especially in America.  At the first of these weddings he meets an American woman, played by Andie MacDowell.  Complications, as they say, ensue.

After the third wedding takes place, we do get to that funeral of the title, which causes two of the main characters, Grant's being one of them, to question if love, true love, will ever find them.  During this funeral, one of the characters recites the W.H.Auden poem "Funeral Blues".  I was unfamiliar with this work, but found it quite moving. I have since looked it up and reread it a number of times already.  HERE is a link to it.

I confess to being a big fan of Hugh Grant.  I have always said that no actor, before or since, has ever been the equal of Cary Grant in terms of star power and pure movie star panache, but Hugh Grant comes the closest. "Four Weddings and a Funeral" made Grant a star, with his shaggy hair, goofy glasses, and trademark stumbling, bumbling style of speaking.  The movie is worth seeing for his performance alone.

MacDowell and Grant

Grant with co-star Kirstin Scott Thomas

Loved the hats she wore in this movie!

"Four Weddings and a Funeral was nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award in 1994, along with "Quiz Show", "Pulp Fiction", and "The Shawshank Redemption".  All of them lost out to that year's winner, "Forrest Gump".  "Forrest Gump" was a good movie, but I could make a case that each of the other four would have been a more deserving winner.

Three and One-Half Stars from The Grandstander.