O Casamento de Muriel

Muriel's wedding is a solid work of Australian comedy, with great acting and a funny script, however I also found it a touch sad.

The film kept taking emotional turns, from hilarious to depressing. The main character, Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette), was funny in a very human way. She shows the audience a quirky, yet believable example of human fallibility, as the girl who never quite meets the standard. Muriel's character is defined by her inability to fit in - despite many attempts. She has a dysfunctional family and weird obsessions with Swedish pop group ABBA, and getting married.

All the characters play emotional roles, and the acting performance by Collette and Rachel Griffiths (as Muriels best friend), are inspirational.

I laughed a lot, but came away with a general sense of sadness about the emotional cruelty of human beings, and the suffering some people endure. I found the character of Muriel's mother particularly sad, but well acted.

Many people I've talked to hated this film, but it remains one of my favourite comedies. As someone who really enjoys Aussie films, I think this was one of the better ones.

I saw this film a thousand times and I have always loved it! Originally I watched this movie because I'm a big ABBA fan, but I found out it's not all about ABBA!

This film makes you feel happy and sad at the same time. The acting is superb, especially the mother of the main character.

Just great!

10 out of 10

I saw this film again after several years. Still believe is drama, a dark inner film. I never considered as a comedy. Characters are very well put on scene, that even a man can identify himself with some of the performances. Music also makes the point. ABBA is so out of fashion today, that's close to a classic.

A dark comedy it is but it really touches the heart and it can be quite sad at times. There are many levels that you can watch this movie on and many do say there is a superficialness to it. However, there are core human elements that clearly ring through in this movie. Friendship, compassion, empathy. Toni Colette and Rachel Griffths both make this movie stellar. It is heartbreaking at times to watch Muriel (Collette) wanting to be someone of value. Her feelings are so true to her heart and I am sure many can relate. Griffith's character is portrayed with such humor and honesty. She also has some of the funniest lines I have heard in a movie in a long time.

Please watch this! It does offer meaning and you certainly can't go wrong with the music of ABBA!

It's quite a while since I'd seen Muriel's Wedding, and it remains to me a strangely satisfying film despite the inherent sadness of the plot and the unlovable nature of many of the characters and themes. To me, picking the jaunty Abba songs was a masterstroke, because it lightened the tone considerably, provided a backdrop that nearly everyone seeing the film would know and most would relate to positively.

Toni Collette demonstrated what an amazingly versatile actor she is, and the chemistry between her and Rachel Griffiths (Rhonda) to me is what makes the film. Bill Hunter (Bill Heslop) nails the awful unlovable Aussie blokey father role, which provides a rationale for how the premise of the film arose. It provides a lot of issues to think about, from the scheming local councillor Heslop, through Muriel's high school "friends" to the South African Olympic swimmer who needed an Aussie bride to become an Australian citizen and be able to leave South Africa.

It put director PJ Hogan on the map, was a box office and critical success, as well as establishing Toni Collette. Perhaps I'm being a bit harsh with 3.5 stars.