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 Betty Heslop writes the first check to "cash" for Muriel to buy cosmetics, it is dated 12-1-1994. When Muriel hands her father a check for $5,000 near the end of the film, that check is dated 2-11-1992.

Quotes:

Nicole: People invite us to parties because they know we have a good time. We're mad.
Janine: Pah-ty, pah-ty, pah-ty.
Nicole: It's our ee-mage.
Muriel: We're mad!

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

I go to Rio

Kind of a "Revenge of the Nerds Down-Under"

Muriel's Wedding is a feel good movie for the outcasts of the world. That means most people of course. At some time in our lives we all feel like the one who is left out of everything. Muriel's life is like that. Her "friends" put her down constantly and her father reinforces it by telling her how useless she (and every other member of her family) is while boosting his own ego by bragging about his connections.

There is no life in Porpoise Spit for Muriel. So after a couple of catastrophic embarassments and a chance meeting with an old school chum and fellow outcast she moves to Sydney. There she reinvents herself and discovers that despite what has been said about her and some pretty bad things she has done she is still a good person. Muriel stumbles on the way but finally frees herself (as does her mother) from the oppression of her hometown, her father, and her life.

Muriel isn't a totally likeable character. She steals, lies, and at one point does a perfectly terrible thing to her only friend. In the end however, Muriel recognizes that despite her shortcoming, physical and spiritual, she isn't the worthless creature her classmates and father have told her she is. To the credit of the filmmaker's they didn't do a complete remake of Muriel in the film to make her a beauty at the end. She gets a better hair cut but for the most part the improvement on her looks comes from within.

Muriel's father on the other hand is a completely despicable man. A local politician who tries to impress everybody with his connections he also put considerable effort into the degradation of his wife and children. His motto, the same as the town of Porpoise Spit, is "You Can't Stop Progress" but he manages to stop the progress of everyone in his family except for Muriel.

This is a very enjoyable film and a good example of the idea that a movie doesn't have to be a big Hollywood production to be great. I'm glad that it was produced in Australia. If it had been done in France then Hollywood would have done a remake in English and probably ruined it.