My Best Friend's Wedding

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This article is about the Julia Roberts film. For the Scrubs episode, see My Best Friend's Wedding (Scrubs).
My Best Friend's Wedding

Theatrical release poster
Directed by P. J. Hogan
Produced by Jerry Zucker
Ronald Bass
Gil Netter
Patricia Whitcher
Written by Ronald Bass
Starring Julia Roberts
Dermot Mulroney
Cameron Diaz
Rupert Everett
Philip Bosco
Music by James Newton Howard
Cinematography László Kovács
Editing by Garth Craven
Lisa Fruchtman
Studio Zucker Brothers Productions
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release date(s) June 20, 1997 (1997-06-20)
Running time 105 minutes
Country United States
Language English
French
Italian
Budget $46 million
Box office $299,288,605

My Best Friend's Wedding is a 1997 romantic comedy film directed by P. J. Hogan. It stars Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney, Rupert Everett, and Philip Bosco.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Commercially, it was one of the top 8 highest grossing films worldwide in 1997.[who?][citation needed]

The soundtrack song "I Say a Little Prayer (For You)" was covered by singer Diana King and featured heavily in the film, making it a Billboard Top 20 hit. The soundtrack featured a number of Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts), a 27-year-old New York restaurant critic, receives a call from her longtime friend Michael O'Neil (Dermot Mulroney). In college, the two made an agreement that if neither of them were married by the time they turned 28, they would marry each other. Three weeks before her 28th birthday, Michael tells her that in four days, he will marry Kimberly Wallace (Cameron Diaz), a 20-year-old University of Chicago student from a wealthy family.

Julianne is upset that Michael will marry someone so wrong for him, and someone he has known for such a short period of time. She realizes that she is in love with Michael, and heads to Chicago, intent on sabotaging his wedding. Soon after arriving she meets Kimberly, who asks her to be the maid of honor. This sets off a comical scenario in which Julianne must pretend to be the dutiful maid of honor while secretly scheming ways to prevent the wedding from happening. She engages in petty sabotage - for example, taking Kimberly and Michael to a karaoke bar after discovering that Kimberly is a terrible singer - and later asks her gay friend George Downes (Rupert Everett) to pretend they are engaged, hoping to make Michael jealous.

When these tactics fail, George persuades Julianne to do the obvious: tell Michael she is in love with him. On the morning of the wedding, Michael gets Julianne alone and tells her that it'll be the last time they ever get to be alone. He expresses some skepticism in marrying Kim, explaining that he and Kim don't share a special song like he and Julianne do. Michael descretely gives Julianne the invitation to tell him she's in love with him, but she lets the moment "pass her by". Michael starts singing their song as he grabs Julianne and holds her while they dance one last time. Afterwards, they take a walk and Julianne confesses her love to Michael, asks him to marry her instead, and kisses him passionately. Kimberly witnesses this and runs off; Michael chases her, and Julianne pursues him unsuccessfully. Julianne finally accepts that she has lost Michael to Kimberly, so she apologizes to her and explains that she kissed Michael unexpectedly, but he didn't kiss her back because he loved Kimberly. Michael marries Kimberly, and Julianne wishes them well, consoled by her platonic friend George.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Release

[edit] Box office

The film opened at #2 at the North American box office making $21,678,377 USD in its opening weekend behind Batman & Robin.[1]

[edit] Critical reception

My Best Friend's Wedding currently holds a 71% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus "Thanks to a charming performance from Julia Roberts and a subversive spin on the genre, My Best Friend's Wedding is a refreshingly entertaining romantic comedy."[2]

[edit] Awards and recognition

American Film Institute recognition:

[edit] Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released through Work Soundtrax in 1997.

  1. "I Say a Little Prayer (For You)" - Diana King
  2. "Wishin' and Hopin'" - Ani DiFranco
  3. "You Don't Know Me" - Jann Arden
  4. "Tell Him" - The Exciters
  5. "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"- Nicky Holland
  6. "I'll Be Okay" - Amanda Marshall
  7. "The Way You Look Tonight" - Tony Bennett
  8. "What the World Needs Now Is Love" - Jackie Deshannon
  9. "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" - Mary Chapin Carpenter
  10. "Always You" - Sophie Zelmani
  11. "If You Wanna Be Happy" - Jimmy Soul
  12. "I Say a Little Prayer (For You)" - The Cast of My Best Friends Wedding
  13. "Suite From My Best Friends Wedding" - James Newton Howard
Chart positions
Year Chart Position
1997 Australian ARIA Albums Chart 1

[edit] References

  1. ^ My Best Friend's Wedding at Box Office Mojo
  2. ^ My Best Friend's Wedding at Rotten Tomatoes
  3. ^ AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs Nominees

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: My Best Friend's Wedding
Films directed by P. J. Hogan
1990s
2000s
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