Four Weddings And A Funeral is a British comedy directed by
Mike Newell and released in 1994. It provided
Hugh Grant with his breakthrough role.
Charles is a charming but gaffe-prone thirtysomething whose friends are getting married one after the other, with him as the most likely candidate to be best man. He has come to find attending weddings unbearably tedious, and he himself remains single (or, as an ex-girlfriend of his puts it, a "serial monogamist"). One day, at yet another wedding, he meets Carrie (Andie MacDowell), and he has a one-night stand with her.
When he meets her again at another wedding, he begins to think she might be the right one. Unfortunately, she's now engaged to someone else...
Contains examples of:
- Author Appeal: Oh, Richard Curtis, with your clumsily adorable Hugh Grant characters and your alluring American women and your quirkily awkward dialogue and your minor social crises.
- Babies Ever After: Charles and Carrie, in the "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue, as well as the couple married at the first wedding, seen briefly at Charles'
- Bilingual Backfire: Surprisingly averted when Charles and David converse in sign language in front of Carrie, making derogatory remarks about her fiance and complimentary ones about her breasts. One watches the scene expecting that any minute now, Carrie will reveal that she also knows sign language and has understood everything, but this never happens.
- British Accents: A nice sampling of them, from posh to Scottish brogue.
- Bury Your Gays: Guess who gets the funeral?
- But Not Too Bi: Fiona. "Well, I was a lesbian once at school, but only for fifteen minutes."
- The Cameo: The bumbling priest at the second wedding is played by Rowan Atkinson.
- The Casanova: Inverted. The one who happens to have done the most sleeping around (and is quite casual about it) is Carrie rather than Charles.
- Cluster F-Bomb: Dropped rather... curiously by Charles. See the main article.
- Cordon Bleugh Chef: Gareth. "The recipe for 'Duck à la Banana' fortunately goes with him to his grave."
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Fiona, to some extent.
- Disposable Fiancé
- The Ditz: Scarlett.
- Dreadful Musician: The amateur duo at the first wedding. They're even listed as "Frightful Folk Duo" in the credits.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: There are four weddings and a funeral.
- Fairytale Wedding Dress
- Foreshadowing: At the fourth wedding: "When someone asks you a question, just say "I do"
- Friendship Moment: Several of those take place among Charles's circle of friends.
- Hey, It's That Guy!: Many of Britain's finest comic actors turn up here, several others, including Hugh Grant, having their Star-Making Role.
- Hollywood Heart Attack: Gareth.
- I Need to Go Iron My Dog: Tom finishing his drink at the third wedding.
- Insatiable Newlyweds: Bernard and Lydia.
- Inspirationally Disadvantaged: Charles' brother David. Despite his deafness, he's portrayed as completely normal, just as snarky and raunchy as his hearing counterparts. And of course, it's he who gets the role of Charles' confidant and guide.
- It Always Rains at Funerals: Played straight.
- Kissing Cousins: One of Carrie's lovers was this.
- Last-Second Word Swap:
"Bit of a poor show you not having a stag night."
"We did! We did... We didn't think it was a very good idea in this day and age."
- Life of the Party: Gareth.
"I remember the first time I saw Gareth dancing. I feared lives would be lost."
- Lost Wedding Ring: At the first wedding, Charles, as the best man, realizes at the last minute that he's forgotten to bring the rings.
- Malaproper: The priest at the second wedding makes a number of verbal blunders ("awful wedded wife" for "lawful wedded wife", etc.).
- Obfuscating Stupidity: Tom fully admits to this. "The great advantage of having a reputation for being stupid: people are less suspicious of you."
- Psycho Ex-Girlfriend: All of Charles' former girlfriends.
- Really Gets Around: Carrie lists all her former lovers (more than 30), which takes quite some time.
- Running Gag: Charles oversleeps and shows up late at every wedding he's invited to. His friends make absolutely sure he's on time for his own.
- Schoolgirl Lesbians: Fiona. "I was a lesbian once at school, but only for about fifteen minutes."
- Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace: Played straight by David at his brother Charles's wedding. David is actually mute and Charles must translate for everyone else what he says in sign language. Cue an Armor-Piercing Slap from the spurned bride.
- Upper Class Twit: Tom.
- Wedding Day: Four of them, three hilarious in one way or another.
- No rings, trainee vicar, groom having second thoughts
- Weddings for Everyone: Everyone, interestingly, but Charles and Carrie.
- "Where Are They Now?" Epilogue
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