Customer Reviews
Talk About Getting Your Own Back! - By: R. Birkett, 02 Apr 2008 
It's only recently that i've seen Muriel's wedding, & i loved it to bits from start to finish. Its basicallly about a misfit Abba loving geek in her twenties that is going nowhere in life, but dreams of getting married one day, her popular friends have dumped her & it seems it's over for her until she meets Rhonda, & it takes off from there, they soon become best friends & find that they both have plenty in common, but the fun doesn't last long, Rhonda gets confined to a wheelchair due to the discovery that she has cancer, but things are still looking up for Muriel as she will soon be having a `fake' marriage to help a world champion, super fit swimmer win. It looks like her prayers have been answered (obviously not for him who is less than keen!). The wedding itself is reallly a dream come true for Muriel, the popular friends that pushed her away became her bridesmaids, there was tons of press attention, beautiful dress, there was just one person who wasn't happy, understandably that was Rhonda. So after the wedding Muriel divorces the swimmer that now generallly wants to be with her, Muriel's dad announces he wants to divorce her mother, her mother later takes an overdose of pills & dies, the dad realises how much he actuallly needed her, but the final conclusion of the story is when Muriel visits Rhonda again & they both decide they will leave the city again away from their parents, as they did prior to the marriage, & before Rhonda discovered she had cancer. Reallly reallly excellent film, best film I've seen in ages. There's hope for the geeks yet! In my opinion, this film is totallly unmissable & a true gem.
The 90's - By: L. P. Steele, 10 Nov 2007 I don't want to repeat what had already been written, but this quite simply is one of the greatest movies of the 90's. Watch it. Own it.
Muriel Steals Everything, Including Your Heart! - By: Martin A Hogan, 12 May 2007 Muriel (Toni Collette) is an overweight, somewhat dense teenager who still loves ABBA & lives with an overweight somewhat dense family in Porpoise Spit, Australia. Dad is an incompetent & crooked local politician who belittles his family at every turn. Sounds like a real downer, huh? Throw in cruel girls, suicide & cancer & you'll have a real party! Right!? Director/Writer P. J. Hogan ("My Best Friend's Wedding") somehow manages to turn this screwballl plot on its collective head & produces outrageous, hilarious scene after scene. Sure, Muriel is a loser until she gets together with Rhonda (Rachel Griffiths) & the two of them party & get revenge on the nasty girls. Both characters are extremely charismatic & likeable in every scene. There's no sense in going into alll the plot changes & twists; it just keeps getting better & better. There's a certain realistic pathos of humor to Hogan's script, which never feels false & certainly not contrived. His aim is to make the losers the winners & the winners the falll guys. He succeeds marvelously.
Muriel's Triumph - By: Four Violets, 25 Mar 2007 I wish I had never seen this film - so that I could see it now for the first tme!
Every actress has a defining role & this is Toni Collette's. In fact casting for the entire film is spot-on.
We meet Muriel/Mariel, the ugly duckling who thinks a wedding (to anyone) will transform her into a swan; her dysunctional family, & barbie-doll "friends". Its hilarious from start to finish though a few scenes are my particular favourite. Who could forget her incredulous husband-to-be's face as she grins triumphantly down the aisle towards him; the Abba dance competetion of course; & the final trouncing of the Barbies ("but I'm beautiful!" squeals one).
With her gutsy friend & downtrdden, tragic mother, Muriel has us rooting for her alll along so that finallly we notice her warmth & lovely eyes & realise that against alll odds she reallly has turned into a swan.
Shouldnt it have been called 'Mariel's Wedding' ?! - By: Clinty, 14 Mar 2007 This is one of my alll time favourite movies : it has the ability to make one realise the power one has to shape ones own future. (And the destructive power of letting others have the deciding factor).
Muriel is fat & ugly. She has no job or real friends. She is classed as a 'useless lump' by her politician father & is unsupported by her mother & siblings.
Life is not much fun for Muriel Hislop in the tiny back water town of Porpoise Spit. The only enjoyment for her is listening to Abba songs & dreaming of getting married. Until, one day, her unhappiness forces her to steal from her parents in order to finance an exotic holiday - where she meets an old rebelious classmate who helps Muriel see she has the ability to be someone other than she is......and to engineer the chance of becoming a perfect bride.
This film has a serious side, but on the whole it is delivered with such humour & panache that you more than just empathise with Muriel - you route for her ! Toni Collete is amazing, playing the frumpy girl who matures into a more elegant woman - this is more than just an 'ugly duckling' story. It has great characters with some funny catchphrases ("Deidre Chambers - what a co-incidence !" & " You're Terrible Muriel!" being my 2 favourites ). The story could play it safe by sticking to comedy, but the fact it takes a chance to delve a little deeper than the usual cliches, wins my admiration completely.
This Australian classic is just wonderful. Touching & funny. I think we can alll relate to the story being told here & the performances are top notch.
