My Best Friend s Wedding

P.J. Hogan, USA 1997, 105 mins

Witness the throng of fluffy pink bridesmaids revolving gleefully around a blushing bride in time to a sugar-sweet rendition of "Hopin' and Wishin'". This is the opening sequence of My Best Friend's Wedding, and it is shortly contrasted against the plot, much darker than the film's cheesy title might suggest.

Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts) is aghast at the revelation that her close friend and former lover Michael O'Neal is about to marry wide-eyed, dippy heiress, Kimmy Wallace (Cameron Diaz). When invited to stay with the husband-to-be in the days leading up to the wedding, she realises that she still loves Michael and conspires to sabotage the happy event. Initially, Potter attempts to re-ignite the flames of passion by asking her gay friend George (Rupert Everett) to pose as her fiancé.

However, when Michael appears not to be suitably jealous, Julianne resorts to increasingly underhand tactics ranging from an attempt to humiliate the tone-deaf Kimmy by making her sing in front of Michael at a karaoke club, to persuading Kimmy to get her father to offer Michael a job with his firm, a proposition she knows he will detest. Kimmy meanwhile is infuriatingly personable and entirely oblivious to Julianne's two-facedness.

Things come to a head when Julianne fakes an e-mail from Kimmy's father to Michael's boss, allegedly to engineer Michael's sacking.

P.J. Hogan's enjoyable commentary on the perils and pitfalls of platonic friendship is skilfully presented through these all-American wedding preparations. Roberts convincingly plays against type as the manipulative ex, often arousing considerable audience sympathy despite apparently villainous credentials. Diaz's portrayal allows Kimmy to retain a certain dignity irrespective of her naïve and squeaky-clean college girl demeanour. However, Rupert Everett undoubtedly steals the show as George, the highly amusing voice of reason in Julianne's inner turmoil, their friendship ultimately becoming the film's focus. Despite its blockbuster credentials My Best Friend's Wedding stands out as one of the more intelligent "chick-flicks" of the year and is certainly worth watching.

Fiona Clague
EUFS Programme 1998-99