It is difficult to believe that the seminal romantic comedy Four Weddings and a Funeral celebrates the 20th anniversary of its release this month. It’s been 20 years since the film seemingly came from nowhere to set the standard for the modern rom-com and became one of the biggest successes of British cinema. And 20 years since British actor Hugh Grant’s star shot into the stratosphere. The film mad Wystan Hugh Auden’s poem Stop all the Clocks world-famous, and the word ‘duckface’ became a popular insult. These are just a few of the many legacies the film can boast of.
The story unfolds in five acts, each act covering one of the titular events. We meet permanent bachelor Charles (Grant), an attractive if a little bumbling Englishman, whose fear of commitment is legendary among his friends. There’s the rather snooty Tom (James Fleet) and his sister Fiona (Kristen Scott Thomas), the ebullient Gareth (Simon Callow) and his partner Matthew (John Hannah) and Charles’ brother David (David Bower).
A definite five-star romantic comedy, whose standard, sadly, has rarely been matched since
Charles bumps into the glamorous American Carrie (Andie MacDowell) at the first of the weddings. They enjoy a brief flirtation which goes nowhere, but the will-they-won’t-they relationship proceeds as the other weddings – and very sad funeral – take place.
That Carrie herself is the bride at wedding number three does admittedly prove to be an obstacle; but knowing the sort of film this is, there is no doubt that Charles will overcome this.
For at its most basic, Four Weddings is fairly formulaic. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl. Yet its script, by Richard Curtis (who would go on to create Notting Hill, Love Actually and About Time) takes the tried and tested formula and tweaks it to perfection; drawing out the comedy from this most social and civil of institutions. The audience immediately engages with the inherent humour in a situation that is terribly familiar.
Curtis rolls out the witticisms, bons mots and laugh-out-loud lines in rapid succession. His exceptional script quickly establishes each character and their respective quirks – be they Charles’s penchant for faux pas, Tom’s snootiness, Fiona’s snobbishness or Gareth’s ebullience – with an efficiency that allows the audience to be smitten.
The film is directed with aplomb by Mike Newell, who strikes the perfect balance between story and character, never allowing the humour to overwhelm either.
The film sets the tone from its first words. The ‘f’ word is uttered numerous times (as is one of the ‘b’ words) as Charles and Scarlett (Charlotte Colman, who sadly passed away in 2001) realise they are late for the first wedding on the list… and yet, uncouth language notwithstanding, the humour throughout is certainly smart and sophisticated.
As anticipated from the fifth event in the title, the humorous takes a backseat to the poignant during the more sombre funeral sequence. Hannah’s narration of “stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone; prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone” bringing tears to many an eye, yet never feeling forced.
Grant, who at this point of his career had already appeared in a handful of films, became an international superstar on the strength of the film. If many of his subsequent roles found him playing similar types, his portrayal of the handsome, charming and self-deprecating Charles hit all the right notes.
The film also showed a playful and attractive side to MacDowell, the film offering her one of the best roles of her career. The rest of the ensemble is a result of spot-on casting, each and every one consistently funny, all drolly delivering their lines to perfection. Cameos from the likes of Rowan Atkinson, as a priest forever flubbing his lines, only added to the delightful confection.
The film was received exceptionally well by critics and audiences alike, and critics were universal in their acclaim of the film, which today continues to rank high in comedy lists.
Four Weddings was described by the Los Angeles Times as “lovable, romantic, funny… Deft writing with a light touch and an adept cast bring the humour of ritual situations to the screen.”
The late Roger Ebert opined that “by the end of the movie, you find yourself reacting to the weddings, and the funeral, almost as you do at real events involving people you didn’t know very well, but liked, and wanted to know better”.
These are just two of the glowing reviews that greeted what is a definite five-star romantic comedy, whose standard, sadly, has rarely been matched since.