Muriel’s Wedding (1994)
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Muriel’s Wedding Movie Review
Muriel’s Wedding is a 1994 Australian dramedy film directed by P.J. Hogan and starring Toni Collette. It’s such a wonderful flick.
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“You’re terrible, Muriel“
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A young social outcast in Australia steals money from her parents to finance a vacation where she hopes to find happiness, and perhaps love. 1994 was one hell of a year for Australian cinema as this great movie was released very closely to ‘Priscilla’, another classic hailing from this country. Going into this movie, I did not expect all that much, so I was pleasantly surprised to find out just how incredible it is.
Dramedies are rare, but they are usually among some of my favorite films ever. Life is both funny and tragic, both lightweight and serious, so it is only fitting to portray both of these spectrums of human experience. Muriel’s Wedding certainly starts as a bright, silly comedy, but it veers totally into the dramatic and even tragic territory in its highly emotional and even deep second half.
Toni Collette has always been amazing, but I’ve not seen her in such an early role before, so I was quite surprised to find out that she was capable of delivering such superb acting so early on in her career. Muriel is an instantly iconic character in any 90s movie – she is socially awkward and more than a bit crazy, but the filmmaker actually depicted her in a compassionate, humanized way, which was right in this instance as making fun of her would not be appropriate. She got a beautiful arc of self-discovery and learning how to be more confident and responsible. Collette delivered all of these emotional and comedic beats stupendously.
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Rachel Griffiths is another standout. Her Rhonda is such an immensely likable character and the two develop a genuine friendship amid all the fakeness exhibited by other characters in the film. The finale was emotionally rewarding and Rhonda’s arc, though overly tragic, was still very touching and well handled.
Muriel’s Wedding is just as much a family drama as it is a comedy starring this socially inept woman. While I found the treatment of her mother’s passing rather problematic as the others did not learn much after that event, the movie still showcased the tragedy of being a victim, especially in regards to marriage and family life. The father is an atrocious human being, so he really needed to get a worse ending, but his depiction is very realistic overall.
The most comedic moments center around this group of shallow girls who are attention seekers. They were over-the-top, but necessary for Muriel’s character development and progression. The highlights were the scenes where she desperately sought out wedding dresses and even engaged in a marriage of convenience. The eventual sort of romance that developed between those two was implausible, but still sweet.
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The film features a great ABBA soundtrack with well used classic songs from the band and it’s crazy that ‘Priscilla’ also used those songs in the same year. The soundtrack and exuberant energy in its pacing made the movie a lot of fun to watch. It’s breezy, but still meaningful entertainment that has great messages to offer in its third act. It is so well directed by Hogan and wonderfully written in both script and dialogue with no cheesy or overly manipulative moment whatsoever.
Muriel’s Wedding is an absolute gem of Australian cinema and a great example of the potentially high potency of dramedies. It starts off in a very comedic, breezy and lightweight manner, but in its third act it ventures into some serious, downright tragic territory. It is a deep family drama as much as it’s a funny comedy about a socially awkward woman in a truly brilliant concoction of the two. The ABBA soundtrack is another highlight while Toni Collette’s central performance is absolutely incredible.
My Rating – 4.5
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