User reviews

I never realized how much of a villain Julianne Potter is until I watched this movie recently. However, Julia Roberts is so likeable that it's hard to hate her character. Rupert Everett steals every scene he's in, which was good because Dermot Mulroney dragged all of his scenes down. This isn't my favorite romantic comedy, but I don't mind watching it every now and then.

In his role as Julia Roberts' gay friend George, Rupert Everett effortlessly steals the show--he is urbane and witty, wise and caring, and of course uproariously funny and drop-dead gorgeous. In contrast, "leading man" Dermot Mulroney appears crass, callow, and utterly devoid of charm or magnetism. This movie, billed as a comedy, has an element of mystery at its core: Why on earth would two such winners as Julia Roberts and Cameron Diaz fight for the affections of such a dolt?! If not for Rupert Everett's performance, this movie would have rated a "1" for me!

This is one of my favourite films of all time. There are so many occasions that you'll either adore or squirm at, which is why it is a love/hate film.

Diaz doing karaoke is hilarious, an entire restaurant singing Say A Little Prayer is entirely unbelievable, but still one of my favourite bits.

Rupert Everett steals the show for me. Right from when he meets Diaz for the first time in the church, the restaurant scene, & then the ending at the wedding reception, he just makes me smile.

I admit that there are a few moments to cringe at, like the Roberts e-mail incident, but the good bits certainly out-weigh the bad.

Take the movie at face value - it's just entertainment!

In a way this movie is quite recognizable to me. I also have made a deal to marry my best friend when we turn 30. She also has a boyfriend and I'm alone and yes, I do compare all girls to her. But that is as far as the similarities between the movie and my life go. No way that I would ever try to get between her and her boyfriend and certainly not when they decide to get married.

Still, I loved the story and the idea behind it, but I can't say the same about the whole movie. There were so many things that ruined it for me. For instance: what was all that singing about? Is it really necessary to hear Cameron Diaz singing out of tone for more than two minutes? Do I really want to see the whole family singing a song about love, in the middle of a restaurant? There is only one answer to these questions: the fast forward-button. The same for Cameron Diaz' character. Damn, I start running, kicking and screaming for help if I ever meet a girl like that. I really don't see what is so great about an overactive, lunatic 20-year old with too much money to spend.

Even though there were many things that I hated, I can't say the same about the plot. I admit that I didn't expect to see what I saw. Congratulations to the makers that they made the movie end in this way.

If all the scenes that annoyed me would have been cut out, I would have loved this movie, although I don't know if much would have been left of it. Now it crossed the line too many times, annoying me just a little too often. I give it a 6/10 because of the good idea and the unexpected ending of the story, but if it hadn't annoyed me that much it would have been at least an 8 or a 9. Too bad!

P. J. Hogan was educating people in the 90s about what a walking red flag looks like all while supporting the LGBT community. Making an unlikeable protagonist is risky, especially with the female one, because we know how society will always jump out on women at every opportunity. Yet casting the ever-lovely Julia Roberts is perfect because not only she embodied the hopeless manipulative Julianne Potter, but people find it hard to piss on the real Julia Roberts. The plot may be full of 90s cinema logic, but watching a big-haired food critic dance with her gay fiance is not bad. George Downes is such a spirit animal.

Everett's performance is great. He makes all others look like pygmies!

Kovacs, whose Hollywood films do not reflect what he had achieved earlier in his Hungarian films, comes up with classic overhead shots of people moving like ants in office lobbies. Kovacs is a delight to watch, even in the winter of his career.

For a while, I was getting concerned about the direction Julia Roberts' career was taking, after misfiring in such dismal duds as "Mary Reilly" and "Michael Collins" where she seemed so shell-shocked that her radiant smile was nowhere in sight.

Thank God she rebounded for "My Best Friend's Wedding". This film, while not perfect, is a shining example of what makes Julia so radiant and desirable in the right role. And she sure gets it here.

As Julianne Potter, Julia gives the same sweet, radiant glow she offered us in "Pretty Woman". Seems she's fallen in love with her best friend for ages Michael O'Neal (Dermot Mulroney) - unfortunately, it's on the eve of his wedding to an effervescent, perky girl (Cameron Diaz) who does her darndest to make Julianne her best friend...as well as her maid-of-honor. Of course, Julianne does what any right-thinking young lady would do: everything in her power to break up the wedding of the title.

This is not as melodramatic as it sounds: this is, in fact, one of the brightest, smartest and all-around funniest comedies of the decade. All the lead characters make the absolute most of their parts and revel in the glory of love, double-dealing and flat-out lying. Along with being extremely romantic, this has to be the most cleverly-plotted love story ever: for every plot thought up by Julianne, there's a twist or foul-up that has everything to do with true love and/or blind devotion.

There are great faces in the background, too. Susan Sullivan, Philip Bosco, the great M. Emmet Walsh all lend able support and offer their own fine support. But how can I mention them in the same paragraph without adding Rupert Everett into the fray? As Julianne's gay editor/friend, he adds great color to all his scenes, especially at the dinner with the wedding party at the seafood restaurant (you've seen it, you know what I mean).

I won't spoil anything by saying that true love wins out in the end; face it, would you WANT to see Julia Roberts as a BAD GUY? Maybe you would, but not in a romantic comedy. In fact, the main surprises lie in the twists and turns that lie throughout this film. Every twist makes the story all the more interesting and (incidentally) funny. Of course, the music makes the proceedings all the better (with a heavy assist from Dionne Warwick on two occasions).

So to recap, what else can I say: if you love Julia Roberts, love stories, comedies and weddings, here's your movie.

Ten stars and a copy of "Dionne Warwick's Greatest Hits" on CD for "My Best Friend's Wedding", where true love wins but true friendship comes in a close second.

Keep up the good work, Julia.

Good film. Some of the camerawork is also more interesting than one might expect, with particularly powerful close-ups where one or two faces fill the screen. Julia Roberts' beauty comes through in a long shot which starts to look like a shampoo commercial: long curly hair spills around her head as she lies in despair on the floor (the public safety message being, don't ever sit with your back against a door which an irate ex-lover might wrench open at any minute); nevertheless, the proximity gives us an intimacy with her character we might otherwise miss. Another effective shot of this kind (two heads on a pillow fill the screen) drives home the theme touched on here of the devastatingly attractive gay man who is made doubly so by his inaccessibility.

7/10.

It was difficult to root for Julia Roberts. It would have been like rooting for Joan Crawford in "Queen Bee" or Gene Tirney in "Leave Her To Heaven" She's a latent nasty piece of work. A woman, we're told, intelligent, successful, but her feelings are of the lowest most ignorant kind. I didn't believe it, sorry. Not believing spoiled the whole fun for me. I though the premise was tapping into the worst in us and that in a comedy is really frightening. I'm sure the director, producers etc didn't do it on purpose but they obviously didn't think the whole thing through. The success of the film is another frightening aspect. Frightening on two counts - or audiences are blind and unaffected by the potential evil here or I'm raving mad and I'm seeing things. Whatever the case, I saw it and it frightened me. Two major saving graces, maybe three. The cuteness of Cameron Diaz's performance, the beauty of Dermot Mulroney and a smashing Cary Grantish turn by Ruperet Everrett. Go at your own peril.

My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) Julia Robert, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, Philip Bosco, M. Emmet Walsh, Rachel Griffiths, Carrie Preston, D: P.J. Hogan.

Roberts is a New York food critic who's best friends with sports writer Mulroney, and when he tells her he's marrying a rich blonde spitfire (Diaz), the best friend tries sabotaging their nuptials. Funny and smart romantic comedy gives a custom-made role for Roberts whose smile and infectious cackle make her sweet, and Everett steals the show as her editor/gay friend.

Running Time: 105 minutes and rated PG-13 for brief strong language and sex-related humor.

RATINg: *** (out of ****)

I'm not crazy about Julia Roberts but the writing was very good and believable.

I recently saw "Made of Honor" in the theater and everyone said that it was just a rip off of My Best Friend's Wedding, which I had never seen, never had an interest, but I figured I might as well see it. So I rented it the other day and watched it today, My Best Friend's Wedding has all the ultimate cliché's of a typical chick flick, but I think the reason I'm so gentle on this movie is because it's one of the first's to have it, so it was semi-original for the time. I mean we got the gay friend, the over perky blonde, the guy who can never take a hint, and our leading lady who is actually a horrible person, but for some odd reason we like her anyways. Julia Roberts, as horrible of a character she played, she made the movie likable and something you'd just wanna see how the story will play out until the very end.

Julianne has been best friends with Michael for 9 years, they tried dating, but it never quite worked out. But they made a promise to marry each other if they never found someone else, but when Michael found someone so quickly while staying in Chicago, a perky young pretty girl named Kimmy, Julianne realizes that she does want Michael. But obviously, it's too late, so she wants to break up the wedding and win Michael to herself.

My Best Friend's Wedding is actually worth the look if you're into romantic comedies. I'm not really, but this wasn't a waste of time to me, it actually had some funny moments, back when Cameron Diaz was actually cute and funny, don't know what happened to that girl, maybe she just got cocky. But her and Julia Roberts made a fun pair and made the movie work. I have to admit that the most ridicules moment but some how cheesy funny was when the group at lunch broke into the "I'll Say a Little Pray For You" song, it was so random and unbelievable, but I think that's what made it funny. My Best Friend's Wedding is a decent enough film for a watch, if you're into rom com's, this is one of the better one's.

6/10

A situation comedy with a serious center struggling to get out. Julia Roberts is at the top of her game here, playing a food critic who makes a snap decision to sabotage the upcoming nuptials between the male friend she harbors secret feelings for and his over-eager fiancée. Super-slick commercial package is lively and fast-paced to a fault, however the dark side of Roberts' character is never dealt with satisfactorily (and it's clear director P.J. Hogan hastens to make her likable despite her deceit). Those who normally shun ready-made Hollywood vehicles with practically no depth will still find Roberts giving a sparkling star-turn, and Rupert Everett is very suave as her gay best friend (every sitcom should have one). **1/2 from ****

I can't believe some of the negative comments I read from other contributors reviewing this movie.

I own this movie on video and have seen it many times and have enjoyed it each and every time. I think this is easily one of the best comedies to come out of the 90s and I actually place it on my personal best films ever list.

I can't see what people don't like about this movie.

First of all, these people who question how can they like a movie where the main character is so rotten just cracks me up. First of all, it's a movie people, it's not real life. Second of all, Julia Roberts' character is not a rotten person. Her character simply gets wrapped up in the moment and loses her judgment momentarily (it's a COMEDY people!!).

Near the end of the movie her best friend played by Rupert Everett even asks her if she's sure she's acting out of love or out of some desire to win. I think the movie clearly shows that Julia's character and her long time friend and one time boyfriend played by Dermot Mulroney have had a long and deep friendship and that there are certainly strong feeling between the two. The fact that they made a pact years ago that if both were unmarried by the time they turned 28 they would marry each other underscores this. The movie plays itself out that Julia's character has basically always re-assured herself that if she weren't to find some knight in shining armor she would always have her old boyfriend who she does love (just not in a romantic way anymore, though she takes the length of the movie to realize this) to marry.

The movie is extremely well directed. The blocking (where the actors stand in relation to the camera) and what is shown/revealed either to the audience or to other characters is top notch.

The pacing is great with hardly a slowdown in the entire movie. Those times the movie does lessen the pace for a moment are to showcase a tender moment between Julia & Dermot. A particularly bittersweet scene is when Julia & Dermot share an afternoon taking a cruise through Chicago's downtown river. They share a song, a hug and look into each other's eyes and we as the audience wait to see if they profess their true love for each other, but the moment passes as they pass under a bridge and into the shadows and we realize that moments are fleeting and love can be fickle.

The music is awesome in the movie with so much of it throughout the movie that the movie almost plays like a mini musical with various songs being sung in parts by characters throughout the movie.

Rupert Everett is hysterical as the gay male friend and Dermot Mulroney is totally underrated in his thankless role as the put-upon groom.

Cameron Diaz gives one of her best performances as the cute as a button bride.

This is an outstanding example of what a mainstream, big Hollywood studio movie can be.

Buy this movie. You'll enjoy it over and over for many years to come.

The first time I saw this film, I was very impressed with Julia Roberts, she of the tousled red mane and wide smile, in a fairly demanding part that has her character doing bad things, yet keeping the sympathy of the audience. I just saw it again, and thought that the lovely Cameron Diaz was fantastic and nearly stole the show. This is at, its crux, a very sweet film, despite its dark side.

Julia Roberts gets a great opportunity to showcase her talent here, and she runs with it. Some of her physical comedy bits are reminiscent of Lucille Ball. She plays a character that could come off as a real jerk, but her natural charm and self-deprecating manner are endearing. She displays real acting chops, especially in the scenes on the tourboat and in the gazebo.

Cameron Diaz turns in a real star-making performance as a ditz who becomes a wildcat when threatened. Her acting in the karaoke bar is fearless and really establishes her character's personality.

Rupert Everett, is, well, fantastic. He acts as Roberts' conscience, and delivers some of the funniest lines in the whole film.

This is one of the most uproariously funny mainstream Hollywood movies to come along in a long while. The script is packed with zingers, and the cast makes the most of it. At the same time, it has some genuinely poignant moments. Don't let it pass you by.

I don't know if I'd actually suggest this movie to anyone, It's not overly fantastical, just a feel-good movie with a below average soundtrack, not much to say about it, watch it if you don't have a better romance movie to watch

An unpleasant comedic vehicle for Julia Roberts about a woman who realizes too late that she's in love with her male best friend and decides to sabotage his engagement so she can have him for herself.

Roberts is game, but the movie is pretty bad. It makes the main character so sadistically unpleasant that not only do you not root for her and her buddy (played by an unappealing Dermot Mulroney) to get together, you hope bad things happen to her to punish her for her crimes. Not a great set up for the character with whom we're forced to spend most of the movie.

Cameron Diaz plays the fiancée as a perfect little blonde, and Rupert Everett plays Roberts' OTHER male best friend, this one gay, who looks bored to be in the movie.

Grade: C-