note : some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers . be forewarned .
the teaser trailers for my best friend 's wedding scarsely gave reason for hope - it looked like the sort of goofy , light - hearted comedy than might put julia roberts back in the limelight , but little more ; i 'd frankly rarely seen a trailer place such an emphasis on people falling over for laughs so often .
it was then to both my surprise and my delight to find that my best friend 's wedding was such a success - a strong , bouyant romantic - comedy with some decidedly unconventionally quirky comic aspects , featuring a triumphant performance from ms .
roberts .
the heroine of my best friend 's wedding is julianne potter ( julia roberts ) , a successful new york restaurant critic , and we open the film with a whimsical revelation to her editor george downes ( rupert everett ) that years ago , she had made a pact with her dear best friend and ex - lover michael o'neal ( dermot mulroney ) , a sports writer , that if they both had n't married by the time they reached 28 , they had promised to marry each other .
both julianne and michael are both single , of course , and when george inquires about michael 's age , julianne realizes that he 's mere weeks away from his 28th birthday , and is quite distressed when she receives a phone call from michael later that day .
however , she finds herself even more distraught when michael 's call is in regards to his impending marriage to heiress kimmy wallace ( cameron diaz ) , and when he asks julianne to fly down to chicago for the wedding , julianne suddenly realizes that she loves michael , and resolves to break up the wedding and steal the groom by any means necessary .
the setup for my best friend 's wedding , then , is a fairly conventional one , and in many ways the film 's storyline is formulaic - but only to a certain extent : the film was directed by p .
j .
hogan , whose first feature , muriel 's wedding , had quite an offbeat tone for a traditional uplifting ugly - duckling story , and the same holds true for my best friend 's wedding , which confidently combines traditional romantic - comedy elements with a really eccentric sense of humour .
the film is innundated with sly mischievousness which seems clearly the influence of mr .
hogan .
for example , there 's a heartfelt , emotional exchange between julianne and michael late in the film - with a trio of teenagers , inhaling helium and sounding every bit like alvin and the chipmunks , harmonizing in the background .
my best friend 's wedding opens with an inspired opening credit sequence which sets the tone for the film , and there are scenes where actors spontaneously burst into song to good comic effect
- it could almost be argued that this film is nearly as much of a musical as woody allen 's everyone says i love you ; i 'd even assert it 's a more successful one .
my best friend 's wedding keeps breaking conventionality with its characters as well .
in a typical romantic - comedy , kimmy would be portrayed as a snooty , conniving ice queen , and the audience would be cheering for julianne to rescue michael from her grasps ; this film is smarter than that - here , kimmy is sweet , sincere , and innocent ; julianne even admits at one point that had she not resolved to utterly destroy kimmy 's life , she 'd actually like her too .
the george character is almost a staple of recent film - the homosexual male friend of the heroine who acts as a confidant and provides the guiding voice of reason - but in my best friend 's wedding , he gets to have a playful , mischievous and charming personality .
throughout the film , the formulaisms one often sees is romantic - comedy are given little twists , and the result is a film which is compelling all the way to its somewhat unorthodox conclusion .
there is a lot of smart writing in the well - paced screenplay by ronald bass ; we 're given four interesting , vivid , and likeable characters , with some good dialogue and some genuinely charming and touching moments .
my best friend 's wedding marks a strong career rebound for julia roberts , who turns in a top - notch , confident and reassured performance as julianne .
this is n't the sort of role one usually associates with ms .
roberts - the julianne character 's neurotic , fumbling characteristics are more in line with a meg ryan role - but ms .
roberts works wonderfully in the film and demonstrates her aptitude at comedy here , remaining compelling and empathetic to the audience , if not entirely sympathetic , even when her deeds done to destroy the wedding plans of her best friend are less than honourable .
even better than ms .
roberts though is cameron diaz , who turns in a shining performance in my best friend 's weddding .
with a smile which lights up the screen , she effectively conveys kimmy 's insecurity and utter sweetness in an endearing manner , and never hits a false note in the film .
she even sings
- i wo n't soon forget her charming serenade of " i just do n't know what to do with myself " .
rupert everett is given a very juicy role as george , and he makes the most of it with a hilarious turn which makes his character perhaps the most vivid and most memorable in the film .
his george is a bit of a devilish rogue , entirely affable , and mr .
everett 's performance is a delight to watch ; he 's clearly having fun , and his joy is infectuous .
dermot mulroney is adequate in a thankless role - unlike the other characters in the film , he 's not given a lot to do , but there is a genuine onscreen chemistry between ms .
roberts and mr . mulroney , and consequently the longstanding friendship between his michael character and the julianne character always seemed completely authentic .
when julia roberts ' lustre began to fade , and she was usurped from her title as " america 's sweetheart " by sandra bullock , i thought it was a canny career move on her part to take supporting roles in prestige projects like michael collins and
everyone says i love you to raise her profile .
while that did n't quite work out , it 's near - certain that her successful return to the genre which made her a big star back in 1990 , the romantic - comedy , will once again raise her ante in the hollywood game .
my best friend 's wedding marks a return to form for ms .
roberts , and cements
p .
j .
hogan 's reputation as a skilled director of comedy .
Output: P