Best movie of this year hands down!

Great Film overall

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Enjoyed this movie but was frankly puzzled by Hugh Grant's character preferring Andie MacDowell to Kristen Scott-Thomas. Still, it was charming and very funny.

Why is this mediocre romantic comedy-drama film so popular? The protagonist, Charles (played by Hugh Grant), happens to meet an American, Carrie (played by Andie MacDowell), at four weddings and a funeral. The biggest problem with this dreadful film is that Carrie is very unlikeable. She's cold, aloof, selfish and arrogant. She's not particularly physically attractive either. It's difficult to believe that Charles thinks she's wonderful.

It was - and for all I know still is - often said of Roger Moore that his entire repertoire consisted of raise left eyebrow, raise right eyebrow, which may well be true but it's still twice the sum total of Hugh Grant's repertoire which consists of a shy grin punctuated by a stutter carefully designed to result in ersatz charm. Thank God, therefore, that he is here confronted with genuine charm in the shape of Andie McDowall, the lone American who takes on the cream of British luvvies and leaves them dead in the water. Richard Curtis, who supplied the screenplay attempts to do the reverse by taking on the cream of American screenrights who dabbled in romantic comedy, Ben Hecht, Charles MacArtur, Billy Wilder, Charles Brackett, Preston Sturges, Robert Riskin et al or, to put it another way, pits his Edsel against their Dusenbergs. Ouch! Having said that this is a pleasant lightweight diversion but you'd really be better checking 'Midnight', 'Easy Living' (1937 version), 'The Philadelphia Story' etc out of Blockbusters and see how the big boys do it.

Four Weddings has achieved iconic status as a British film and for good reasons. It comes under the category of a romantic comedy but I would argue that it is in fact far more than that. It is a film about love in all its myriad and astonishing aspects - love between man and woman, or between 2 men, love between mother and child and longstanding friendship which can be much more important than sexual love. You would need a heart of stone not to cry at the funeral scene. The film is beautiful to look at with the contrasting weddings and gorgeous costumes. It is directed with a very light touch and interweaves the main characters in an ingenious way. The acting is generally superb and without a doubt it is Hugh Grant's greatest role - before he became middle aged and cynical. My only objection is that Andie McDowell was a very odd choice for the role, not very beautiful and not a serious actress. Apart from that, the film is perfect in every respect and I could watch it forever.