Muriel's Wedding (1994)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

P.J. Hogan

Writer:

P.J. Hogan (written by)

Release Date:

10 March 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

She's not just getting married, she's getting even.

Plot:

Muriel finds life in Porpoise Spit, Australia dull and spends her days alone in her room listening to Abba music and dreaming of her wedding day...

Plot Keywords:

ABBA | Wedding | Marriage Of Convenience | Makeover | Betrayal

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Sophie Lee	...	Tania Degano
Roz Hammond	...	Cheryl
Toni Collette	...	Muriel Heslop / Mariel Heslop-Van Arckle
Belinda Jarrett	...	Janine
Pippa Grandison	...	Nicole
Bill Hunter	...	Bill Heslop
Jeanie Drynan	...	Betty Heslop
Daniel Wyllie	...	Perry Heslop
Gabby Millgate	...	Joanie Heslop
Gennie Nevinson	...	Deidre Chambers
Rachel Griffiths	...	Rhonda Epinstalk
Matt Day	...	Brice Nobes
Chris Haywood	...	Coach Ken Blundell
Daniel Lapaine	...	David Van Arckle
Susan Prior	...	Girl at wedding

Also Known As:

Muriel (France)

MPAA:

Rated R for sex-related dialogue and some sexuality.

Runtime:

106 min

Country:

Australia | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Singapore:NC-16 | Iceland:L | South Korea:15 | New Zealand:M | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-8 | Germany:12 | Peru:14 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

CentrePoint Tower, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

CiBy 2000

Trivia:

The writer/director P.J. Hogan wanted to use the music of ABBA in the film. At first, permission for the music to be used was denied. When the director promised to fly to Europe to plead his case to the founders of the band, permission was granted, as long as the band received a percentage of the film profits. The film turned out to be a big international hit. The film helped inspire the very successful Broadway show "Mamma-Mia".

Goofs:

Continuity: When Rhonda looks at Tania's wedding ring, she holds Tania's hand with two hands, then one in the next shot.

Quotes:

Muriel: When I lived in Porpoise Spit, I used to sit in my room for hours and listen to ABBA songs. But since I've met you and moved to Sydney, I haven't listened to one Abba song. That's because my life is as good as an Abba song. It's as good as Dancing Queen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "HBO First Look: On the Set: 'My Best Friend's Wedding' (#4.3)" (1997)

Soundtrack:

Sugar Baby Love

pathetically fabulous

a fat girl with an obsessive/compulsive dream of marriage + her grotesque family + her shallowest of the shallow "so called" friends + her cheeky & crazy sidekick and the music of ABBA. How could any movie sound more irritating? But, uh-huh, it's not.

What makes this movie "unique" is the performance of Toni Collette and the thin line between the protagonist/antagonist qualifications of the characters. You can not just like them or hate them because you can not decide where to put them in your personal moral scale. Although the story itself is pathetically sad, the film could still make the audience laugh out loud in some specific scenes.

I believe this film is one of the pioneers of 90's indie movies and obviously it has given great inspiration to the newcomers of "Ecole Sundance".