The lead character in this film, Charles, says at one point that, while his friends were busily obsessed with marriage, two members of their group were, for all intents and purposes, married to each other. In those days before Britain had a civil partnership law, he was referring to Gareth and Matthew, played by Simon Callow and John Hannah. "Four Weddings and a Funeral" was among the first major films to feature a gay couple without any comment, moralizing, or stereotyping. Considering all of the absurd controversy generated by "Brokeback Mountain," this English comedy may be considered subversive in some quarters, because it portrays the union between the two men to be as loving and enduring as any between the men and a women in the same film. The two gay men are among a circle of idiosyncratic friends that orbit around Charles, who suffers from relationship avoidance. Played engagingly by Hugh Grant, Charles attends the weddings of others, but manages to avoid any commitment of his own. One of the film's funniest scenes involves Charles at a wedding reception where he has been seated at a table with several of his ex-girlfriends. With that one scene, screenwriter Richard Curtis wittily fleshes out Charles's character as each woman remarks on her past experience. The episodic comedy is broken down literally into the five events of the title, and the core characters attend these events as spectators who each hope for a wedding of their own. Many of the lines and situations are extremely funny. Rowan Atkinson steals his brief time as a novice preacher who blesses a couple "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the holy goat." Although Hugh Grant plays Charles as, well, Hugh Grant, several other actors create some fine comic turns. The ravishing Kristin Scott Thomas is touching as the lonely Fiona, and her timing is impeccable when she recovers from an indelicate question with a snappy comeback. Of course, why anyone as beautiful as Kristin Scott Thomas should be unwillingly single is a minor casting flaw in the film. Unfortunately, Andie MacDowell plays the American, Carrie, and, although she looks great in a hat, she fails to generate the necessary charisma to convincingly be Charles's object of desire. However, the low wattage generated by the two leads does little to dampen the hilarity or the pathos of this excellent film. While, at nearly two hours, the movie is long for a comedy, the structure and quirky characters easily sustain interest throughout. With "Four Weddings and a Funeral," director Mike Newell has made one of the best romantic comedies, and the film holds up to repeated viewings.

When movies like this gain the popularity that they do, I feel concerned for the moral plight of our world. I'm sure this sounds awfully preachy, but I am serious. When I watched this film, I was totally turned off by the "romance" between Hugh Grant and Andie McDowell. Think about it, folks! These two don't know each other at all. They happen to meet at a wedding and screw like weasels in heat! Then, they leave and don't see each other until the next wedding, where they once again screw like weasels. This happens several times and there is no love, no commitment--just pointless sex. I would have REALLY loved it after a while if they would have had the characters get STDs--then at least the movie would have had some point! It's ironic that the same pointless sex is exactly what the real life High Grant got himself involved in with that skanky prostitute only a few years later. Given the message movies like these make, the next ones caught with prostitutes might just be our own children--after all, the message these movies give is "do what feels good and damn the consequences".

While starting off a little on the slow side, this film is never less than hugely enjoyable. The tale of the bachelor, his friends and their romantic escapades is constantly charming, witty, poignant and most of all funny, and the humour here is suitably understated. The film further benefits from being superbly written, beautifully filmed and sharply directed with a well structured story that could have easily have been episodic. Also whereas there have been films where I have been indifferent to the characters, the script ensured that the characters were warm and easy to empathise with. I think it is also to do with the quality of the acting, with Hugh Grant at his most charming, Andie MacDowell at her most enigmatic and Simon Callow and Kristen Scott-Thomas especially outstanding among the supporting cast.

Overall, Four Weddings and a Funeral is a hugely enjoyable and enduring film. 9/10 Bethany Cox