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42 of 42 found the following review helpful:
 "You're Terrible Muriel"....Jun 01, 2005
By James Hiller
But fortunately, this movie is far from! An impressive cast, wonderful story, and even more catchy soundtrack will leave you humming for weeks afterwards. Muriel's Wedding is a tour de force of wonderful filmmaking at its best.
Muriel's Wedding tells the tale of Muriel Heslop, an appropriate name for a girl without much of an identity. At the beginning of the movie, Muriel is a put upon girl with a bleak future and an even more bleak present. She attends the wedding of a "friend" of hers in a stolen dress, which sets up Muriel's life as a series of lies she tells to make herself into something. One lie begets another, and soon, Mariel is off to Syndey with new gal pal Rhonda. Muriel struggles to find herself amidst the lies she tells and the real life for which she yearns, thus the story. This film is most unpredictable, and full of wonderful nuanced surprises that totally make sense to the story.
Toni Collette deserves a standing ovation for her performance of Muriel. This was the first movie that I ever saw her in, and who knew the range of talent she possess. Just watch this movie, and then Sixth Sense, The Hours, and Connie and Carla, and see the range she covers. It should only be a matter of time before people realize her immense and total talent. Just watch Toni walking down the aisle as Muriel; her total, goofy joy is palpable... amazing stuff.
Also appearing is the wonderful and solid Rachel Griffiths as her friend Rhonda. Together, they turn in a tour de force performance to help hapless Muriel find herself.
Much must be said for director PJ Hogan's handling of this material. Given to a lesser director, the script may have gotten out of hand with its numerous twists and turns. Hogan trusts his actors and the stories, and allows them to show through. Also, the film is visually brilliant. Muriel's lip sync of the ABBA song in itself is a scene right from another Australian import "Priscilla Queen of the Desert".
Not to mention the music. ABBA songs feature prominently throughout the movie, and actually allow for the story of the movie to progress wonderfully. It has been said that profits from Muriel's Wedding allowed for the creation of another ABBA delight, the musical "Mamma Mia". If that's true, what another wonderful gift from this movie.
It seemed in the 1990's, Australian performed a wonderful trifecta of movies that blew away American audiences: Muriel's Wedding, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Strictly Ballroom. Muriel's Wedding may be the lesser known of the three, but it is equally as strong. If you want a funny, funny movie, with wonderful acting, and a dash of drama thrown in, plan to attend Muriel's Wedding soon!
16 of 16 found the following review helpful:
 Unconventional comedyMay 28, 2002
By Mr. B. G. Fowler
"ben1283"
This is one of those comedies that will make you laugh hysterically and then shut the audience up with a sudden tragedy. The story follows Muriel (Collette), an overweight ugly duckling who is ridiculed by her friends and her father but finds solace in ABBA songs and best friend Griffiths. Moving from her home town of Porpoise Spit she begins to find a new life for herself.Fortunately this rites-of-passage drama doesn't lay it on heavy with the sentimentality. This brings about a conclusion that's nothing short of depressing but still poignant. The comedy is wonderfully crass, especially from Muriel's friends from Porpoise Spit and the sheer gaudiness of the whole movie is beautifully carried by all concerned. When Muriel's bridesmaids waddle up the aisle to an ABBA song, or Collette and Griffiths jubilently belt out tunes at a karaoke bar, you'll be laughing. Given this, it's rare to find such comedy that will bring you crashing down to earth with suicide, cancer and an unhappy arranged marriage. This is one of those movies that will never make you cry; it will make you sympathise with its characters. It's certainly a great gift of Hogan's that he manages to pull both genres off so well at the same time. But this wouldn't be half as good if it wasn't for Collette and Griffiths' magnificently crazy, emotional performances. 'Muriel's Wedding' should also be cheered for the fact that it doesn't succumb to typical Hollywood glitz and glamour. Muriel remains overweight throughout the whole movie, there's no 'Pygmalion'-like twist, it's the person that changes and perhaps that's what the movie is about. Completely unmissable.
13 of 13 found the following review helpful:
How Movies Should Be MadeMar 22, 2006
By A. Spurlock
Want to see key differences between U.S. and international fimmaking? Rent or buy both this movie and My Best Friend's Wedding-they have the same director! Yet you will see the American one (MBFW) with shallow character development, and no risk taking on characters with flaws (notice how everyone has great high paying jobs?). The character of Muriel at the end of her movie and her process of "letting go" of her old life is much more poignant and yet realistic than Julia Robert's character "letting go" by "letting" her best friend marry someone else.
8 of 8 found the following review helpful:
Fabulous DVD, delicious movie!Mar 15, 2002
By Fanny Pippers
All Muriel Heslop really wants is to break free of her old life and "become someone". And why not? After all, her so-called friends treat her as if she has the plague, and her father, the self-serving politician, tells her repeatedly how useless she is. So, to ease her suffering, she obsesses on getting married, because in her mind, marriage would make her someone special and then everyone would love her. She leaves her home town, Porpois Spit, and takes off to Sydney in search of her dreams with her new best friend, Rhonda. An extremely funny film, "Muriel's Wedding" is also rich with its own kind of poignancy, which makes this a very human story. I believe we can all relate to Muriel's dilemma: we all want to be loved. But at what cost? What I find most rewarding about the film (and let me tell you, the whole film is rewarding) is that we get to witness Muriel's wonderful transformation at the end, where she realizes that what she needs to be happy is to be who she is, not who she imagined she'd be. The soundtrack features many great hits of ABBA. All in all, "Muriel's Wedding" is delicious to the core. The DVD, which features an ABBA video as its one special feature, displays a high quality, crisp, clear picture and great sound. Though not stuffed with extras, the DVD is definitely worth owning for the film alone. Enjoy!
14 of 16 found the following review helpful:
Dreams can come true if you're true to your selfOct 30, 2003
By Ian Muldoon
Our heroine Muriel, dumpy, suburban, open, guileless, trusting, who has a corrupt Dad, an oppressed Mum, two siblings who are variously lazy and stupid, falls in love with and marries her dream "man" - what else but a white, blue-eyed blonde South African born swimming champion who is the quintessence of selfishness, self aggrandisement, vanity, and shallowness - but finds "true" love in friendship with her crippled buddy played superbly by Rachel Griffith. Some stupendous and memorable moments, one being when Muriel's mother sets fire to her backyard with its Hills Hoist in its centre. Funny, touching, and great feel good movie. Peopled by some terrific characters. The ABBA scene is a gem! One to own and revisit.
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