Page 12 | I’m watching four weddings and a funeral

Frynye · 2025-12-11T10:42:48+00:00

I’m watching four weddings and a funeral for the first time since I was about 15 and I have questions. When did everyone stop wearing hats to weddings and why are so many people (Carrie mainly) wearing white to weddings

Ginmonkeyagain · 12/12/2025 21:01

Lol at people who didn't realise Gareth and Matthew were a couple.

OtherS · 12/12/2025 21:25

MadTurkey · 12/12/2025 20:54

Agree. I think it’s partly because the ensemble cast in general, and even the small or non-speaking parts (Charles’ exes, Hen, Bernard and Lydia, Lydia’s parents, the bemused elderly man, the ‘damn fine filly’ man, the cool older Bette Davis-type woman who asks Fiona if she’s a lesbian, the folk singers, the nasty woman in the shop where Carrie and Hamish’s wedding list is, the ‘she’s no longer my girlfriend’ doofus’ etc) are so solid. I could do without Rowan Atkinson as the comic priest, though.

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But then imagine what it could have been if the leading lady wasn't one of the worst written (and acted) characters in film!

longtompot · 12/12/2025 22:14

Calliopespa · 12/12/2025 00:17

Has to be the line "Is it raining? ... I hadn't noticed."

Worst line in cinema, worst delivery of a line.

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My dh hates the character Carrie especially for this bit. It wasn't in sync and was just badly delivered.
Me? I love this film. It's very 90s. I got married in 95 and several of my relatives wore hats, even my 18 yo sister

ChristmasMantleStatue · 13/12/2025 10:39

MadTurkey · 12/12/2025 20:54

Agree. I think it’s partly because the ensemble cast in general, and even the small or non-speaking parts (Charles’ exes, Hen, Bernard and Lydia, Lydia’s parents, the bemused elderly man, the ‘damn fine filly’ man, the cool older Bette Davis-type woman who asks Fiona if she’s a lesbian, the folk singers, the nasty woman in the shop where Carrie and Hamish’s wedding list is, the ‘she’s no longer my girlfriend’ doofus’ etc) are so solid. I could do without Rowan Atkinson as the comic priest, though.

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I loved the lesbian comment. I said to DH it was funny because surely every teen girl has a bit of a kiss with her friends at school?

The Damn fine filly guy- loved him too because DH is a member of an up-itself club and I could throw a tennis ball into a room and hit any one of half a dozen men like that. (They are usually utter twats, which I thought RC showed up perfectly).

VintedVintage · 13/12/2025 17:55

I got married to XH around the time FWAAF came out - we were from a similar group who spent two consecutive summers attending multiple weddings.

Dress code then was suits for the men, morning suits not just for the bridal party, pastel / floral Laura Ashley type dresses with matching hats for women of all ages. The bride was obviously the bride (despite guests in cream etc) as they would be wearing a great big meringue with veil and tiara.

When DH and I got married earlier this year, the only person wearing a hat was MIL - a few fascinators amongst my age group. The younger women (early 20s) all wore long dresses, so I can see why a white long dress would be a no-no these days when the bride might wear a long sheath like gown.

Butteredtoast55 · 13/12/2025 18:06

MadTurkey · 11/12/2025 23:27

I think that while it’s a period piece in a way, it’s aged far better than some other Richard Curtis films, like the perennially godawful Love, Actually or Notting Hill (in which Julia Roberts’ character behaves dreadfully to Hugh Grant throughout, and we keep encountering Rhys Ifans clad only in greying y-fronts).

Yes, I’m always baffled as to why Simon Callow’s character gushes about Carrie, and I’ve never believed for a second in her relationship with Corbin ‘Old Enough To Be My Father, plus a total wanker) Redgrave.

But I like Bernard and Lydia, and Scarlett’s knickers, and Fiona’s confession of love, and Nicola Walker as the folk singer at the first wedding.

If you think those films are bad, don't watch Curtis's The Boat That Rocked. It's absolutely awful and is full of casual sexism and misogyny.

Coffeeishot · 13/12/2025 18:12

Butteredtoast55 · 13/12/2025 18:06

If you think those films are bad, don't watch Curtis's The Boat That Rocked. It's absolutely awful and is full of casual sexism and misogyny.

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Oh is that about the pirate radio boat ?

Butteredtoast55 · 13/12/2025 19:16

Coffeeishot · 13/12/2025 18:12

Oh is that about the pirate radio boat ?

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Yes! All the ingredients to be a great film, all the subtlety of a Viz cartoon.

MadTurkey · 13/12/2025 19:19

Butteredtoast55 · 13/12/2025 18:06

If you think those films are bad, don't watch Curtis's The Boat That Rocked. It's absolutely awful and is full of casual sexism and misogyny.

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I’ve only read reviews, which sound hsir-raisingly awful.

Coffeeishot · 13/12/2025 19:20

Butteredtoast55 · 13/12/2025 19:16

Yes! All the ingredients to be a great film, all the subtlety of a Viz cartoon.

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Oh yes viz 😂 it was absolute tosh all I can remember Rhys ifans was in it .

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Frynye · 13/12/2025 19:31

Coffeeishot · 13/12/2025 18:12

Oh is that about the pirate radio boat ?

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Oh that was such a bad movie!

OP posts:

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Frynye · 13/12/2025 19:32

And a shame as the concept was great

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renthead · 15/12/2025 10:22

I found the info I was looking for- Andie MacDowell was indeed a last minute replacement for Jeanne Tripplehorn. She pulled out when her mother died shortly before filming.

I like JT as an actress. I wonder what the film might have been!

Coffeeishot · 15/12/2025 10:33

renthead · 15/12/2025 10:22

I found the info I was looking for- Andie MacDowell was indeed a last minute replacement for Jeanne Tripplehorn. She pulled out when her mother died shortly before filming.

I like JT as an actress. I wonder what the film might have been!

Maybe Andi was just pissed off at not being cast in the first place but money is money 😂

Notonthestairs · 15/12/2025 10:59

I liked Jeanne Tripplehorn in Sliding Doors - nicely tart. I think she’d have held her own.

Sparklesandspandexgallore · 15/12/2025 21:51

This thread has persuaded me to watch Four Weddings again. I’d forgotten how hilarious Rowan Atkinson is as the priest.
Andi MacDowell is still as terrible as I remembered.

KiIIingMeDeftly · 15/12/2025 22:38

Did we ever find out what any of the characters did for a living? I guess Tom had an estate to run and Fiona presumably didn't need to work but Charles, Gareth and Matthew must've all had jobs?

MadTurkey · 15/12/2025 23:29

KiIIingMeDeftly · 15/12/2025 22:38

Did we ever find out what any of the characters did for a living? I guess Tom had an estate to run and Fiona presumably didn't need to work but Charles, Gareth and Matthew must've all had jobs?

Doesn’t Charles work in publishing? Wasn’t that his flimsy excuse for going back to the inn instead of going home with Tom and co after the first wedding — something about researching a book on inns with ‘boat’ in the title?

And Scarlett is job hunting and applying to work in a rubber shop.

Fizbosshoes · 27/12/2025 00:09

Ive just watched it again tonight!

Calliopespa · 27/12/2025 21:21

Hugh Grant is far sexier and infinitely funnier as the Oompa Loompa.

I feel he has really come into his own in that role, though we all thought FW was his "made it" role at the time.

topcat2014 · 27/12/2025 21:31

Did the actor who played Charles deaf brother go on to do other things?

MadTurkey · 27/12/2025 21:35

Calliopespa · 27/12/2025 21:21

Hugh Grant is far sexier and infinitely funnier as the Oompa Loompa.

I feel he has really come into his own in that role, though we all thought FW was his "made it" role at the time.

You’re right about HG as the Oompa Loompa.

SophieStrawHat · 27/12/2025 21:46

Toastandjam16 · 12/12/2025 10:49

Yes, the wiping the shaving foam off his face moment was a clear indicator of intimacy yet also a subtle one. Credit to RC for those signals.

Other fantastic lines IMO:

[After Charles has introduced himself to older guy at the table] Don't be ridiculous! Charles died 30 years ago!

There are over 200 types of tea. And that's not including these so-called 'fruit teas' 😆

Also the whole scene where Charles makes his exit from Lydia and Bernard consummating their marriage ('Found it!') and then Duckface button holes him, with Bernard popping his head round the door and immediately deciding to retreat again, is really well done.

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I offer my best friend - who doesn’t drink ordinary tea - a cup of so-called fruit tea every time she comes to my house.

Nessiesfoodprovider · 27/12/2025 21:55

I last had a hat at a wedding about 10 years ago. I'm the sort of person who wears hats to various things so it didn't feel out of place.
The last couple of weddings I've been to, noone wore hats. They were in country house hotel type places and it didn't seem appropriate. I had a fancy sparkly hair clip comb thing for one of them though.
I love Four Weddings! It's gloriously nostalgic and they did a great job with all the different music so it wasn't purely Wagner / Mendelssohn. In fact, I'm not sure we heard the Mendelssohn at all? Will need to go listen again.
I had serious Carrie hat envy, and loved the way that the lassie playing Hugh Grant's sister sang so wonderfully offkey and tempo. Suspect she is probably a beautifully trained singer to be able to do that so well.

Calliopespa · 27/12/2025 21:57

MadTurkey · 27/12/2025 21:35

You’re right about HG as the Oompa Loompa.

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Yes. It's easy to underestimate that role but he is brilliant.