Runaway Bride (1999 film)

Runaway Bride
Directed by	Garry Marshall
Produced by	Ted Field Tom Rosenberg Scott Kroopf Robert W. Cort
Written by	Josann McGibbon Sara Parriott Audrey Wells
Starring	Julia Roberts Richard Gere Joan Cusack
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Stuart Dryburgh
Editing by	Bruce Green
Studio	Lakeshore Entertainment Interscope Communications
Distributed by	USA/Canada Paramount Pictures International Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	July 30, 1999
Running time	116 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$70 million
Box office	$309,457,509

Runaway Bride is a 1999 American romantic comedy film starring Julia Roberts and Richard Gere and directed by Garry Marshall. The screenplay was written by Josann McGibbon, Audrey Wells and Sara Parriott.

Plot

Maggie Carpenter (Julia Roberts) is a spirited and attractive young woman who has had a number of unsuccessful relationships. Maggie, nervous of being married, has left a trail of fiances. It seems, she's left three men waiting for her at the altar on their wedding day (all of which are caught on tape), receiving tabloid fame and the dubious nickname "The Runaway Bride".

Meanwhile, in New York, reporter Homer Eisenhower Graham or "Ike" (Richard Gere), writes a column about her that contains several factual errors, supplied to him by one of Maggie's jilted exes for revenge. He's fired for not verifying his source and then decides to write an in-depth article about Maggie in a bid to get his job back. He travels to Hale, Maryland, where he finds her living with her family and on her fourth attempt to become married. The fourth groom-to-be, Bob Kelly (Christopher Meloni), a football coach at the local high school who treats Maggie like one of the players on his sports team. He constantly makes references to Maggie "focusing" on the goal-line.

While doing research for his story, Ike's realizations are forcing Maggie to face her fears, and eventually the two find themselves becoming more and more attracted to each other. In the meantime, Maggie is still set to marry Bob. In the midst of the wedding rehearsal, Bob helps walk Maggie down the aisle, and asks Ike to stand in his place as the groom. This proves to be a mistake, when Ike and Maggie "practice" the kiss right in front of Bob, finally admitting their feelings for one another. As a result, Bob punches Ike in the face before storming out of the church. Soon after, Ike and Maggie agree to marry since the wedding is already set to take place. But on the day of the wedding, Maggie gets cold feet, and leaves Ike, too, standing at the altar. As she rides away on a FedEx truck, Ike runs after her, but can't catch up.

Later, we see Ike living in New York and Maggie trying to discover herself, trying different types of eggs, and putting her lighting designs up for sale in New York. She shows up unexpectedly at Ike's apartment one night where he finds her making friends with his cat, Italics. Maggie then explains that she's been running because every other guy she was engaged to was only engaged to the idea she had created for them rather than the real her- and when she was marrying Ike she was simply freaked out at the crowd-, and "turns in" her running shoes just before proposing to Ike. The two are married in a private ceremony outside, on a hill, avoiding the big ceremonies that drove Maggie away in the past. In the end, they are shown riding away on horseback while everyone celebrates the fact that Maggie finally got married.

Cast

• Julia Roberts as Maggie Carpenter- A woman who has run away from 3 weddings but is hoping not to do so on her fourth wedding attempt
• Richard Gere as Ike Graham- a New York City news reporter who writes an article about Maggie and later falls in love with her. His real name is Homer
• Joan Cusack as Peggy Flemming - "not the ice skater"; this is a running gag in the film
• Héctor Elizondo as Fisher
• Christopher Meloni as Bob Kelly
• Paul Dooley as Walter Carpenter
• Rita Wilson as Ellie Graham
• Lisa Roberts Gillan as Elaine from Manhattan
• Donal Logue as Priest Brian Norris
• Reg Rogers as George "Bug Guy" Swilling
• Yul Vazquez as Dead Head Gill Chavez
• Kathleen Marshall as Cousin Cindy
• Sela Ward as Pretty woman in bar
• Garry Marshall (uncredited) as First softball baseman
• Laurie Metcalf (uncredited) as Betty Trout
• Larry Miller (uncredited) as NY bartender Kevin
• Emily Eby ("uncredited") as reporter

Production history

The film was in development for over a decade. Actors attached at various times: Anjelica Huston, Mary Steenburgen, Lorraine Bracco, Geena Davis, Demi Moore, Sandra Bullock, Ellen DeGeneres, Téa Leoni (for the role of Maggie); Christopher Walken, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Michael Douglas (for the role of Ike) and Ben Affleck (for the role of Bob). Director Michael Hoffman was attached. Writers Elaine May and Leslie Dixon did unused rewrites.

The theme song is titled "Before I Fall in Love" and is sung by Coco Lee

Release

Box office

The film opened on July 30, 1999 with $12,000,000 on its opening day. In its opening weekend, Runaway Bride peaked at #1 with $35,055,556.

By the end of its run, the film had grossed $152,257,509 domestically and an international $157,200,000, altogether making $309,457,509 worldwide.

Critical reception

The film earned positive to mixed reviews. While Richard Gere and Julia Roberts were liked in their second film since Pretty Woman, viewers and critics felt the film was not as good as it could have been. Originally, Marshall was going to do a Pretty Woman sequel, but he let the sequel sit on the back burner and did this movie instead.

External links

• Runaway Bride (1999 film) at the Internet Movie Database
• Runaway Bride (1999 film) at the TCM Movie Database
• Runaway Bride (1999 film) at AllRovi
• Runaway Bride (1999 film) at Box Office Mojo
• Movie stills