To Not 'Get' 'Four Weddings and A Funeral'?

[EddieIzzardIsMine]

I know its supposed to be a 'Classic Chick-Flick' (hate that phrase!) but I just don't 'get' it?
Aside from Andie MacDowell's awful wooden acting, the character she plays is a bit...lose with her morals and I just dont find her particularly likeable.
Am I wrong? Am I missing something? Or are there others somewhere like me?! And are there any other 'classic' films you just don't 'get'?

Glad to see Charlotte Coleman being remembered here.

FWAF is a fairly traditional 'farce'.... a comedy set piece where doors open/shut and bedsprings twang as the various characters get the wrong end of the stick or are in the wrong place at the wrong time and the hero is usually one very confused man trying to preserve his dignity. The success depends on situation rather than characterisation or acting skills. Should finish with a neat resolution. If you don't like it, fair enough, but it's a pretty good example of the genre.

YABU to think it is a 'chick flick'... that misses the point entirely.

I loved 'How Do you want me?' with Charlotte Coleman and Dylan Moran.

Love four weddings apart from Andie McD she ruins it a bit bit other than that it's great

LeBof - I thought I was the only person who'd ever seen Bitter Moon! Whenever the subject of "worst ever film" comes up I always say Bitter Moon, but no-one else has ever heard of it. It's awful, awful, awful. When all those luvvies came out a couple of years ago in defence of Roman Polanski and how he shouldn't be tried for rape because he was a great film-maker, I just thought, "But you can't have seen Bitter Moon. He should go to prison for that alone."

It's great. Andie McDowell cannot sink it.

givemushypeasachance At last I've found someone else who hates Breakfast At Tiffany's.

The bigger problem is the horrible, horrible way Hugh Grant's character treats 'Duckface'.

That's rather misogynistic.

For me, I watched it, know what happens, and wouldn't need to watch it again.

I love Four Weddings although now I am older and, I like to think, wiser, I have a sneaking suspicion that Richard Curtis hates women as they're all treated rather badly in his films - by him and the other characters.

I do always want Charles to choose Fi instead of stupid Andie McDowell though. I must have watched it about 100 times and he's not done it yet. Maybe next time...

I LOVE Breakfast at Tiffany's - if you don't, read the novella by Truman Capote. It's very dark and much less Hollywood than the film - and it helps makes sense of Holly Golightly. Plus there's no schmaltzy kissing in the rain ending, either.

Greythorne

Hugh Grant's misogynistic behaviour in the film merely reflects real life-the man has used prostitutes. How much more misogynistic can you get? I think he is absolutely repellent.

The whole group treat "Duckface" awfully, and its a nasty bullying clique thing.

My other favourite characters are: the girl who learns sign-language to get together with Charles's brother, the second married couple, and the batty Uncle. Then there is the very sad funeral bit.

Mummytime
Yes, quite right, it is bullying and the whole gang of friends participates. Horrid.

The bit where Duckface is doing her hair and headband thingy on her wedding day where she says, 'it works, doesn't it? It really works' (not verbatim!) shows a really nasty streak on the part of the writer. It's really uncomfortable watching. Maybe we're supposed to think the bullying and horrid treatment are justified because, sin of sins, Duckface admires her appearance in the mirror on her wedding day.

What rot.

The funeral scene is sad. And gives some complexity (although it is rather unexplored) to the characters because despite his waistcoats and rah rah appearance, Simon Callow's character is actually from a v modest Northern industrial town.

Come on, FW had some classic lines.

?I was at school with his brother, Bufty. Tremendous fellow. Buggered me senseless, still, taught me a thing or two about life. How do you know him??
Pause
Hugh Grant: ?University.?

Old lady at table to KST: ?Are you married??
KST (ruefully): ?No?
Old lady: ?Are you a lesbian??

Glad to see someone else likes ?push on through ?til dawn?!

A classic in my book.

In Am's defence - isn't her character being deadpan in the raining line. It's not supposed to sound genuine - it's supposed to sound flat. She's being funny.

I guess I saw it just as I turned 21 - when friendships were moving into a grown up stage and here were friends just a little further down the line.

It rang very true. And I have cheerily used "you must be so proud" at every wedding I've been to!

Funny to think that at the time the film was made, Andie McDowell was the big Hollywood star and Hugh Grant a complete unknown.

I always forget Simon Callow is actually still alive, so engrained on my brain is that funeral scene.

I didn't see FWAAF until about 15 years after it came out so it did seem rather dated by the time I saw it. But I could kind of see why it did so well at the time and some of the humour doesn't date.

just films of their time. They just touched a certain point with people at the time.

No YANBU. I hate it too. Was put off by all the f words at the beginning. Not a prude but just felt it was very unneccessary.

I do agree about the beginning. My mother was lent the DVD shortly after she had been diagnosed with what proved to be a terminal illness, but stopped watching almost at once because of the language. She would, I know, have hugely enjoyed the film as it would have appealed to her sense of humour, so it was a real shame. (She might have been OK with a milder word like "shit", but "fuck" was still beyond the pale for someone of her age and background.)

There really wasn't any need for the f words, and there must have been thousands like my mum who missed out, thinking it was going to be something it wasn't.

"Yes it is fucking raining, you simpering cow"

Brilliant!

Adore FW and LA both have me sobbing for much of the film.

Watched LA at christmas again, my favourite bit is when Colin Firth dashes over to Portugal to declare his love for Aurelia.

Also love the bit where Keira Knightly is watching the wedding video and realises Andrew Lincoln is in love with her.

I agree that AM's character in FW is v annoying but she doesn't ruin the film for me as everything else about it is done so well (I especially love the music in both films).

I also love FW because the 2nd wedding is partly set where OH and I got married.

I think possibly people are over thinking it. It's a funny, entertaining film with some classic one liners.

"Let's push on through til dawn" is another of my favourites :)

Watched LA at christmas again, my favourite bit is when Colin Firth dashes over to Portugal to declare his love for Aurelia.
He dashes over to France, if I am not mistaken, where she is an immigrant.

But is is a great scene. :-)