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Your Learning Zone - Four Weddings and a Funeral (Deluxe Edition)
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List Price: $14.98
Our Price: $3.47
Your Save: $ 11.51 ( 77% )
Availability:
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Starring: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, James Fleet, Simon Callow, John Hannah
Directed By: Mike Newell
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 0027616133670
Format: AC-3
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2006-01-31
Running Time: 117
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1994-03-09
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Worthless
Comment: I hated this movie. Andie McDowell's disgusting character is what did it for me. Her line in the end about the raining??...enough to make me throw-up.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Wonderful and a classic
Comment: I love this movie, Hugh Grant is fabulous! Highly recommend this movies. A Must See.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You have got to be kidding me...
Comment: I've finally seen what people have said is the "best modern romantic comedy" around. They're joking? There might be that movie in this mess somewhere, but the script and editing kill it.
Charles (Hugh Grant) is a very attractive character and nicely written in his strengths (friendship, openness to the possibility of true love) and flaws (perpetually late, a complete lack of discretion). Carrie (Andie MacDowell) is less engaging. For someone supposedly so "experienced" (she lists 33 lovers), she apparently has no idea what she's doing in her relationships. She's attracted to Charles from the beginning but does absolutely nothing to encourage him other than invite him to have sex with her. (If Charles is a "serial monogamist" then she's a "serial monogamist" who cheats.) It makes one wonder how much is really there, how long before she's explaining to Charles that it just isn't working out, and there's this new guy who's now the one. After all, according to the script as shown, they've barely talked to each other.
The script is much too obvious. There are real clunkers of forced scenes including one where it feels like someone said "oh wait, we haven't made this person awful enough for what's about to happen to her so let's give her one really bitchy line." Charles's friends are a fascinating group, but only good acting prevents them from being cardboard stereotypes.
The film has no idea whether it's making meaningful statements about relationships or being a screwball farce. It could have been cut either way. As it is, it feels as deeply real and as cheaply funny as the unmoving waves in one backdrop.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Love and marriage; and a death thrown in for good measure...
Comment: Highly regarded as one of the finest British comedies of all time, `Four Weddings and a Funeral' started off rather harsh (with perhaps 20 F-Bombs before another word was even spoken) and ended on the other side of sweet (awwww, they're kissing in the rain). In the end, `Four Weddings...' works rather nicely, and while it's not the best British comedy in my opinion (I prefer screenwriter Richard Curtis' very own `Love Actually'), it is very enjoyable and worthy of most the love and accolades it has received.
The film revolves around a group of friends who discover love, friendship and life over the course of four weddings and a funeral (or should I say, `three weddings, a funeral and half a wedding' to be more precise). At the center of this group is Charles, a bachelor who is afraid of commitment. His commitment phobia seems to fade away when he meets the mysteriously elusive American, Carrie, at a wedding. They have a moment and then she is gone and he can't stop thinking about her. The remainder of the film follows Charles as he tries to reconnect with Carrie, obstacle after obstacle falling into his path.
I've read another review recently that mentioned how Andie MacDowell was perfectly cast as Carrie for the very fact that she is a boring actress, and her lack of natural charm made Charles interest in her all the more interesting. I can agree. I have never found MacDowell to be a particularly intriguing actress, that is for sure, but here she draws me in, mostly because I find myself trying to see what Charles sees in her.
The film is littered with wonderfully full performances, especially by Hugh Grant and Kristen Scott Thomas, but no one can really be singled out as `worst-in-show' since everyone involved rises to the occasion and hands the audience a wonderful experience. Grant though, should be singled out as `best-in-show' for he really personifies what he has been trying to personify since he first appeared on the big screen. Some actors are always given a hard time for constantly playing variations of the same character. Some do so wonderfully, others not so wonderfully. Grant has made a career of, rather wonderfully, playing the commitment phoebe that unintentionally pushes everyone away with his arrogance. Charles is the perfect example of this character because Grant has softened him to the point where his arrogance is an understatement and his gentle nature is his major selling point. I am still baffled at the fact that Grant has yet to receive an Academy Award nomination, for he is constantly effortless in his roles and typically stands out in every film he inhabits as `best-in-show'. Kristen Scott Thomas is also edible as Fiona, capturing the comedy within the script effortlessly, and inhabiting her character with real warmth and genuine heart. Her secret desires for Charles help create a three dimensional character who is both easy to love and easy to understand.
It must be said that Richard Curtis knows how to pen a winning comedy. His style of wit and poignancy help elevate `Four Weddings and a Funeral' from a generic romantic comedy to something much deeper and ultimately much more memorable. He has a knack for giving his characters something to sink their teeth into, something to really embellish and deliver to the audience. He creates characters that we can feel connected to, and we truly feel connected to the ones presented us in `Four Weddings...'.
In the end `Four Weddings and a Funeral' is a feel good romantic comedy that hits almost every mark and delivers a beautifully fulfilling cinematic experience. It has its faults, sure, and it misses the mark in some areas, but not every film is aimed at perfection. What every film is aimed at though is entertainment, and `Four Weddings and a Funeral' definitely entertains.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Mild entertainment
Comment: This film passes one's time reasonably pleasantly. However, if one is looking for laughter, one should look elsewhere. The story line and development are thin; indeed, we basically do just attend four weddings and a funeral, watching the lead actor struggle with his desire to avoid commitment.
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Editorial Reviews:
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The champagne is flowingand so is the funin this "delightful and sly" (Roger Ebert) romantic comedy about two people who belong together but just can't seem to tie the knot. Ushering in two Academy AwardÂ(r) nominations*, and starring Hugh Grant (Notting Hill), Andie MacDowell (Michael) and a superb ensemble cast that includes OscarÂ(r) nominee** Kristin Scott Thomas, Four Weddings and a Funeral is truly "a very special occasion" (Rolling Stone)! Charlie (Grant) is always the best man but never the groom. Determined to avoid even a hint of commitment, this handsome English gentleman is notoriously late to every wedding. But today he's in for a real surprise because not only did he forget the ring...but he also just caught a glimpse of the girl of his dreams (MacDowell)! "Elegant, festive and very, very funny" (The New York Times), Four Weddings and a Funeral is engaging entertainment from beginning to end. *1994: Best Picture, Original Screenplay **1996: Actress, The English Patient
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