Two major influences in the romantic comedy came along in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. The first was Nora Ephron’s When Harry Met Sally, which built its story around a double pair of characters – male lead, female lead, and the best friend of each – and tied its story to a particular thematic gimmick of conceit (in this case, the question of whether a man and a woman can be friends). Ephron’s Sleepless in Seattle followed similar lines of construction, as did lesser imitations. The second was Four Weddings and a Funeral, which spawned a subgenre of romantic Britcoms such as Notting Hill, and which was particularly notable for its emphasis on a large, rich ensemble cast of friends, associates and quirky neighbors surrounding the central lovers. This ensemble style evolved into the influential Love Actually, which has spawned a subgenre of its own – lamentably, probably, in light of the none-too-beloved He’s Just Not That Into You and Valentine’s Day that came after it. The vogue in romantic comedies now seems to be a sort of expansive, multi-tiered slice of life that isn’t content to explore a single relationship, or even two, but must make some kind of grand statement on Love In Our Times.
Anyway. If we rewind to 1994, we see that the unique charm of Four Weddings – what makes it such a compulsively watchable, and rewatchable, comedy – has very little to do with the central lovers. Or, more accurately, it has very little to do with one of the central lovers. The lovely but rather distant Andie MacDowell, portraying Hugh Grant’s Eternal Beloved, is essentially an object – she has very little to do but show up from time to time, smile coyly and deliver a few ambiguous lines, perhaps sleep with the hero, and then vanish again. Her function is to stoke Grant’s romantic yearning and concretize his dissatisfaction with what’s right in front of him.
The real relationships in Four Weddings exist among Grant’s friends, and they constitute the beating heart of the movie. Above all, Four Weddings is a movie about a pack of friends – how they can provide the social center of a person’s life, how they can buttress him, comfort him, steer him in the right direction when he is straying to the wrong one, and how they can provide a surfeit of moments of mirth and companionship. Rarely has any film so effectively evoked the infectious joy of banter, or the way one comes not merely to tolerate but to treasure the quirks and imperfections of all one’s friends.
A uniformly excellent cast of characters fills out Grant’s social circle – John Hannah and Simon Callow as the two gay men whose relationship is quietly but firmly revealed, culminating in the deeply affecting funeral scene (though it falls into the common ‘90s trap of only dramatizing gay characters when they are dying – at least in this instance, it’s a run-of-the-mill heart attack that plucks Callow from the world); the lamented Charlotte Coleman as Grant’s roommate Scarlett, James Fleet as his wealthy, absent-minded, eternally hopeful friend David, and above all Kristen Scott Thomas as Fiona, always perched at the side of the room with cigarette in hand, disdainful-yet-amused expression on her face, and a ready quip for her companions.
To me the film’s most affecting scene is not the funeral – powerful though that is – but it’s a brief moment at the reception for Andie MacDowell’s wedding in Scotland, when Fiona confesses to Charlie that she has secretly loved him for years. Fiona – emboldened no doubt by drink – abruptly and with a laugh blurts out the truth she has held onto tightly for so long, and the moment’s followed by a brief closeup into which Thomas loads such sadness of expression that your heart breaks for her.
When all is said and done, Charlie gets the girl he wants – though it’s hard not to feel Fiona would have been a much better fit for him, and we’re curiously unaffected by the happy conclusion of his romantic quest. The truth is, Charlie seems much more blessed to have had such friends all along, than he is to have finally acquired the lover who obsessed him. It's this chattering, busy, good-hearted enclave of lifelong companions that resonates with us much more than Charlie's aloof romantic Holy Grail.
What a classic movie. Hugh Grant was young then. I love the movie's storyline. Thanks for posting. Nice article though.
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