Stars: Hugh Grant, Andie MacDowell, Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, James Fleet, David Bower, Charlotte Coleman, John Hannah, Rowan Atkinson, Corin Redgrave

Director: Mike Newell

Summary: A young man, whose efforts to remain single are legendary amongst his friends, suddenly finds himself in love with an American woman who has recently attended this season's weddings.

Charles (Hugh Grant) is a confirmed British bachelor with a colourful romantic background who meets the perfect woman, Carrie (Andie MacDowell), at a friend's wedding. However, Charles's hopes of romance are dashed when Carrie announces she must return to America the next morning. The two continue to cross paths at other people's weddings, never finding each other at a time when both are single. As all of Charles's friends find love, he's left wondering if he will ever be the one going to the altar. With subtle and lighthearted storytelling, director Mike Newell makes viewers feel intimate with characters who are shown in their happiest and saddest moments. The talented, funny cast--including Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow, and Rowan Atkinson--portrays a very convincing group of friends in search of true love.

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When it was released in 1994 Four Weddings and a Funeralquickly became a huge international success, pulling in the kind of audiences most British films only dream of. It's proof that sometimes the simplest ideas are the best: in terms of plot, the title pretty much says it all. Revolving around, well, four weddings and a funeral (though not in that order), the film follows Hugh Grant's confirmed bachelor Charles as he falls for visiting American Carrie (Andy McDowell), whom he keeps bumping into at the various functions.

But with this most basic of premises, screenwriter Richard Curtis has crafted a moving and thoughtful comedy about the perils of singledom and that ever-elusive search for true love. In the wrong hands, it could have been a horribly schmaltzy affair, but Curtis' script--crammed with great one-liners and beautifully judged characterisations--keeps things sharp and snappy, harking back to the sparkling Hollywood romantic comedies of the 30s and 40s. The supporting cast, including Kristin Scott Thomas, Simon Callow and Rowan Atkinson (who starred in the Curtis-scripted television show Blackadder) is first rate, at times almost too good: John Hannah's rendition of WH Auden's poem "Funeral Blues" over the coffin of his lover is so moving you think the film will struggle to re-establish its ineffably buoyant mood. But it does, thanks in no small part to Hugh Grant as the bumbling Charles (whose star-making performance compensates for a less-than-dazzling Andie MacDowell). Though it's hardly the fault of Curtis and his team, the success of the Four Weddingsdid have its downside, triggering a rash of far inferior British romantic comedies. In fact, we had to wait until 1999's Notting Hillfor another UK film to match its winning charm--scripted, yet again, by Curtis and starring Grant. --Edward Lawrenson

Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary, Theatrical Trailer, Featurettes
Year:	1993
Release Date:	November 29, 2004
Runtime:	112 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	10001218
Keywords:	Special, Comedy, General, Four, Edition, Funeral, Romantic, Weddings
Genre:	Comedy