THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503300023
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E6 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 70 lines
``MURIEL'S WEDDING'' is not the zany comedy you expect it to be.
It is closer to a psychological drama with on-the-edge implications, but then, it is not quite that either.
Rather, it is a quirky original that keeps us guessing most of the time. Muriel is the square-jawed, fat girl who is so bland and so uncool that she's a social outcast, even in the uncool town of Porpoise Spit, Australia. When she catches the bride's bouquet, the town's snobbish girls demand that she give it back and allow it to be thrown again. They figure the tradition is wasted on poor Muriel.
The TV commercials, which work hard to make this movie look like a knockabout comedy, are not accurate. Based on them, we'd expect Muriel to be a mixture of ``Georgy Girl'' and Cinderella - the underdog who will find her rightful place in the world. Instead, she's a thief, a liar, an opportunist and a generally untrustworthy young woman.
In spite of all this, we root for Muriel. After all, in this quirky movie, who else do we have to pull for?
Toni Collette is delightful, or as delightful as she could be, as Muriel. Eventually, we learn why Muriel does the callous things she does. She wants desperately to get married because she feels she will become another, more desirable, person if she marries.
Her room is papered with posters of brides. She endlessly listens to the records of the '70s Swedish pop band ABBA. ``Dancing Queen,'' ``Waterloo'' and ``Fernando'' blast out their teen hopes as Muriel wishes only that ``my life could be as good as an ABBA song.''
Her father (Bill Hunter) is a slimy politician who is mortified that his daughter is such a cow. Her mother has seemingly lost touch with reality. Muriel runs off to swinging Sydney.
Eventually, she even snags a hunkish Olympic swimmer as a husband. The husband (Daniel Lapaine) might fill out swimming trunks nicely but his marriage to Muriel is only a business arrangement.
Eventually, she must return to Porpoise Spit and deal with her past.
Only the Aussies are making movies like ``Muriel's Wedding.'' The latest offerings from Down Under feature a peculiarly unbalanced kind of personality. There was the dysfunctional loser in ``Sweetie,'' the curiously unfunny drag queens in ``Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' and the broad, almost campy humor of ``Strictly Ballroom.'' All were not what we expected them to be. ``Muriel's Wedding'' joins their ranks.
Much darker and quirkier than you'd expect, ``Muriel's Wedding,'' directed and written by first-timer P.J. Hogan, is always interesting and usually unpredictable - something for those who want a movie that is not in the Hollywood formula. You may like the movie ``Muriel's Wedding'' much more than you do Muriel herself. She is, indeed, a character. ILLUSTRATION: MIRAMAX
From left, Bill Hunter, Toni Collette, Belinda Jarrett and Sophie
Lee star in the quirky film ``Muriel's Wedding.''
MOVIE REVIEW
``Muriel's Wedding''
Cast: Toni Collette, Bill Hunter, Rachel Griffiths
Director and Screenplay: P.J. Hogan
Music: Peter Best
MPAA rating: R (nudity, language)
Mal's rating: ***
Locations: Lynnhaven 8 in Virginia Beach
by CNB