Rating: 
Summary: Terrific comedy-drama from Australia
Review: Life should be as wonderful as an ABBA song. Unfortunately for Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) it's not. Chunky, disliked by her so-called friends ("You bring us down"), stuck in the not-happening town of Porpoise Spit, in a family where her father calls everyone "useless" and her mother seems lost in depression, Muriel can only escape to her room and listen to her favorite group, ABBA (their infectious, dance-pop hits permeate the soundtrack). A secretarial school reject, Muriel has but a single goal in life: marriage."I'm going to get married and I'm going to be a success," she tells her mother, right before stealing the family's money and blowing it on a vacation with her "friends" who did not invite her, and are shocked and angered that she's followed them. She doesn't find a husband on the trip, but she is reunited with Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths), a plucky high school acquaintance, and the two strike up a real friendship. Written and directed by P.J. Hogan (a name to watch), "Muriel's Wedding" seesaws rapidly between comedy and tragedy. The film won Australia's equivalent of our Best Picture Oscar. And Toni Collette (who reportedly gained over 40 pounds for the role) picked up their Best Actress award. (Funny how Robert De Niro's weight-gain for "Raging Bull" was so much more publicized and admired.) I really liked how Muriel transforms herself here. Both on the inside and outside, she just gets more beautiful as the film progresses to it's strong conclusion.
Rating: 
Summary: Fabulous DVD, delicious movie!
Review: All Muriel Heslop really wants is to break free of her old life and "become someone". And why not? After all, her so-called friends treat her as if she has the plague, and her father, the self-serving politician, tells her repeatedly how useless she is. So, to ease her suffering, she obsesses on getting married, because in her mind, marriage would make her someone special and then everyone would love her. She leaves her home town, Porpois Spit, and takes off to Sydney in search of her dreams with her new best friend, Rhonda. An extremely funny film, "Muriel's Wedding" is also rich with its own kind of poignancy, which makes this a very human story. I believe we can all relate to Muriel's dilemma: we all want to be loved. But at what cost? What I find most rewarding about the film (and let me tell you, the whole film is rewarding) is that we get to witness Muriel's wonderful transformation at the end, where she realizes that what she needs to be happy is to be who she is, not who she imagined she'd be. The soundtrack features many great hits of ABBA. All in all, "Muriel's Wedding" is delicious to the core. The DVD, which features an ABBA video as its one special feature, displays a high quality, crisp, clear picture and great sound. Though not stuffed with extras, the DVD is definitely worth owning for the film alone. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Oh my God was this funny...
Review: I LOVED this movie. Toni Collette was absolutely brilliant here. The movie was funny, but it was so sad too. I felt like I just wanted to jump into the screen and give Muriel a great big hug. Her home life was horrendous, but watching her as she came out of her shell was fantastic. There are some moments of hilarity in this movie like none I've ever seen.I can't say enough about this film...I'm definitely going to watch it again!!!!
Rating:
Summary: Unconventional comedy
Review: This is one of those comedies that will make you laugh hysterically and then shut the audience up with a sudden tragedy. The story follows Muriel (Collette), an overweight ugly duckling who is ridiculed by her friends and her father but finds solace in ABBA songs and best friend Griffiths. Moving from her home town of Porpoise Spit she begins to find a new life for herself. Fortunately this rites-of-passage drama doesn't lay it on heavy with the sentimentality. This brings about a conclusion that's nothing short of depressing but still poignant. The comedy is wonderfully crass, especially from Muriel's friends from Porpoise Spit and the sheer gaudiness of the whole movie is beautifully carried by all concerned. When Muriel's bridesmaids waddle up the aisle to an ABBA song, or Collette and Griffiths jubilently belt out tunes at a karaoke bar, you'll be laughing. Given this, it's rare to find such comedy that will bring you crashing down to earth with suicide, cancer and an unhappy arranged marriage. This is one of those movies that will never make you cry; it will make you sympathise with its characters. It's certainly a great gift of Hogan's that he manages to pull both genres off so well at the same time. But this wouldn't be half as good if it wasn't for Collette and Griffiths' magnificently crazy, emotional performances. 'Muriel's Wedding' should also be cheered for the fact that it doesn't succumb to typical Hollywood glitz and glamour. Muriel remains overweight throughout the whole movie, there's no 'Pygmalion'-like twist, it's the person that changes and perhaps that's what the movie is about. Completely unmissable.
Rating:
Summary: Charming Through and Through
Review: Vaguely reminiscent of England's Sixties hit Georgy Girl, which starred Lynn Redgrave, this Australian gem tells the story of a walking disaster...Muriel, a big-boned girl with a penchant for wearing the most hideously unattractive clothes, and getting herself into one social embarrassment after another. Muriel has two obsessions: getting married (and this is an obsession like no other), and the music of ABBA. Sometimes the two things become entertwined in her good-hearted but truly baroque mind. In order to obtain her goal of being a bride, Muriel leaves her ordinary family in Porpoise Spit, and journeys to Sydney, where she takes up with wild woman Rachel, the type who goes to bed with two men at once, one black, one white. In this type of atmosphere, Muriel flourishes in a sense, but one has to see it to believe it. This film is so enchantingly delightful and offbeat that it manages to include spinal cancer, wheelchairs, suicide, and philandering as just part of the plot. And the wonder of it is, that the viewer accepts it all with a great big smile! This charming movie is one to watch again and again. It's a true delight.
Rating:
Summary: sad, funny and true!
Review: Well, mostly true anyway...Everyone remembers things differently. It is very much based on the directors family. I remember when the mother died, it was very sad. The real Porpose Spit is Tweed Heads and as far as I know the Father is still a local member. I find it a cleaver but uncomfortable film to watch...As far as I know the real Murial and the gil in the wheelchair were never reconciled.
Rating:
Summary: Great movie
Review: Muriel Heslop lives in Porpoise Spit, Australia, with her parents, two brothers and two sisters. She has four friends, or so she believes, who are pretty and popular. Eventually, they tell her that she is not good enough for them. Muriel retreats to her room with her Abba cassettes, dreams of getting married, and eventually plots revenge! She manages to finagle money from her parents and takes a trip to Hibiscus Island where her four former friends are vacationing. There, she runs into an old friend from high school, Rhonda. It is here that her life changes. She tells Rhonda that she is engaged to Tim Simms, a fictional man, just so Rhonda will think she is a success. Upon her return to Porpoise Spit, she finds that her family has found out that she stole money from them for the vacation, and she skips town and heads for Sydney to be with Rhonda. There, she changes her name to Mariel, to represent her new life. But life in Sydney has its own ups and downs. And Mariel is now dreaming of her wedding day again, as she equates getting married with being happy. This movie is a great light-hearted comedy with a few dark moments. One really begins to feel for the characters and hopes that they figure out their challenges. I recommend this movie to anyone who would like to see a serious, yet funny movie about learning who you are and how to get there.
Rating:
Summary: My favorite movie
Review: *..*
I watched this wonderful movie about a year after it originally came out. I connected with the (very real lives of the) characters. The story of a woman who discover the shollow ways of the people around her, Muriel's Wedding is one of those rare movies with deep messages. Anyone who's ever had any kind of self issues will compeletely love it. Check it out.
Rating: 
Summary: Almost brilliant...
Review: This movie is almost amazing and funny and touching, but somehow, it just misses the mark. The fault really isn't the actors, they are superb (Toni Collette is great in everything she does.) And the fault certainly isn't the ABBA-centered soundtrack playing in the background; it adds some much-needed levity to a very heavy comedy-drama. The first major problem of the movie is that it can't decide whose story it is. You would think with a title like Muriel's Wedding that we would see things through Muriel's point of view. But so many times, we're taken off on these scenes without Muriel, where we catch a glimpse of Rhonda's thoughts or the mother's feelings. It gives a disjointed feel to the movie, keeping us from focusing on Muriel, the supposed object of our admiration and encouragement. The movie also offers drama to the point of the extreme, and it can't really recover from the depressing story lines that pop up periodically. Very few directors and screenwriters know how to make a drama light-hearted and amusing. Billy Wilder was one. If he had directed Muriel's Wedding, it really would have been something to stand up and cheer about. This movie has a character with a cancerous tumor who will never walk again, a woman who feels so worthless she commits suicide, a father who is cheating on his wife and verbally abusing his children, and Muriel, who is obsessed with weddings and ABBA, a trait which might be funnier if there weren't all this other mess going on. Ultimately, we like Muriel, but we'd like her more if we saw more of her, and less of her dysfunctional friends and family.
Rating:
Summary: Fast start for the great Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths
Review: It's now 10 years since "Muriel's Wedding" first release, and for the most part it has relegated to the back of people's minds as "that ABBA movie." However, with the exception of one side-splitting scene featuring a gotta-see-it-to-appreciate-it lip-synched rendition of 'Waterloo,' the music is but the background to a great story of rejection and friendship. When I saw "About a Boy" recently, I was reminded again about the fearlessness of Toni Collette, who I believe is one of the world's great (and certainly most underrated) actresses. 'Muriel' is where it all began for her. Check her out in 'Muriel,' then 'Emma,' and finally 'About a Boy.' This is a beautiful, talented lady not afraid to do whatever the role requires. She's incredible. Watch the bar scene in Hibiscus where her friends essentially disown her. Her reaction is so stark and heartbreaking that I suspect that even her fellow actors were uncomfortable. It's no wonder this role won her Australia's equivalent of an Oscar. She's that good. This is where it also started for Rachel Griffiths, heartbreaking as Rhonda Epinstalk, Muriel's best friend. This is your chance to see two real stars making their initial marks. What a thrill in that. Also, never pass up a chance to see Bill Hunter, who put together three stirling performances back in the 1992 - 1994 timeframe: "Strictly Ballroom" (as Dancing Federation Chairman Barry Fife - *the* funniest role ever on film); "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" (as 'Bob,' potential suitor to transvestite Bernadette as played by the great Terence Stamp); and here as failed local politico Bill Heslop ("You Can't Stop Progress"). Bill Hunter knows comedy.
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