Date: Fri 18-Jul-1997

Publication: Bee

Author: DONNAM

Quick Words:

Playing-Wedding-Roberts-Diaz

Full Text:

(rev "My Best Friend's Wedding" for Now Playing, 7/18/97)

Now Playing-

`Best Friend's Wedding' Has Roberts & All the Right Moves

By Trey Paul ALexander III

If director P.J. Hogan isn't careful, he may soon find himself stereotyped by

reviewers looking to find his niche. Should he be labeled the nuptial man?

(Notice the recurrence of the "W"-word in his last film, Muriel's Wedding ,

and again in this summer's My Best Friend's Wedding ). Maybe he should be

called a song-and-dance man: Abba's "Dancing Queen" proved pivotal in his

previous outing, and now he concocts a wonderfully kooky restaurant scene

using Dionne Warwick's "I Say A Little Prayer."

Regardless of whatever box is chosen in which to place Hogan, there is little

doubt of his ability to charm audiences and bring a type of flair to the

romantic comedy genre reminiscent of its heyday in the screwball hits of the

1930s and 40s.

It also doesn't hurt that My Best Friend's Wedding , playing at Danbury's

Crown Cine theater, features winning work by Julia Roberts, who appears to be

back in form after unsuccessful forays (such as Mary Reilly ) into new

territory. Akin to Tom Cruise, who manages to vary his roles and performances

all while infusing them with his high-voltage star persona, Roberts here gives

moviegoers the "classic" Julia - long, curled tresses, big-wattage grin, and

sleek, chic and curvy form - but never puts her characterization on cruise

control (no pun intended).

Roberts stars as Julianne, a confidant, self-reliant restaurant critic from

New York for whom "long-term commitment" means two-week relationship. Her cool

demeanor quickly cracks when she gets the news that her Chicago friend of nine

years, ex-beau Michael (Dermot Mulroney) from college, has met the girl of his

dreams and plans on getting married in four days. He wants Julianne to be

there, and she agrees, but her aim is to declare her love for him; a love kept

dormant over the years but forced to the forefront by the urgency of his

impending marriage plans. Subterfuge is her plan, and if she can find a way to

show him the error of his ways, then he will be hers and all will be right

with the world.

One of the impressive aspects of Muriel's Wedding was Hogan's refusal to paint

the put-upon heroine as flawless. Muriel, while treated unfairly by friends

and family, proved at times to be crafty, deceptive and selfish herself.

Likewise, Julianne arrives in Chicago with ulterior, deceitful motives, and

Hogan doesn't make her task easy by crafting Michael's fiancee, Kimmy (Cameron

Diaz), as some witchy woman channeling the spirit of Anne Baxter in All About

Eve . No, she's a wide-eyed college junior who embraces Julianne and seems to

be a genuine soul who loves Michael and seeks their mutual happiness.

Nevertheless, Julianne doesn't buy it, and begins an assault on Michael and

Kimmy's relationship that includes a set-up at a karaoke bar, "unintentional"

miscommunications, and behind-the-scenes scheming. One of Julianne's richest

ploys, at least in terms of comic payoff, is to enlist her gay editor (Rupert

Everett) to pretend to be her fiance in the hopes of getting Michael jealous

and deflecting attention away from her other machinations. Everett proves to

be an able foil for Roberts and an expert comic spark plug. His moments in the

film, particularly his scenes as Julianne's boyfriend (including the

aforementioned "I Say a Little Prayer" sequence), are a riot.

One of the best compliments to be given My Best Friend's Wedding is that by

the time it's over, regardless of previews and commercials that practically

give the whole story away, one doesn't feel the ending was a foregone

conclusion. The film battles the foe of predictability, and although it fails

to gain the strikeout, it wins the battle by doing a nice job of mixing its

pitches.

My Best Friend's Wedding is rated PG-13 for unnecessarily strong profanity and

some crass gags that would have been funnier just mentioned instead of shown.