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Movie Review

My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) Movie Review

Director: P.J. Hogan

Writer: Ronald Bass (Screenplay)

Starring: Julia Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz, Rupert Everett, Philip Bosco, M Emmet Walsh, Rachel Griffiths

Plot: When a woman’s long-time friend reveals he’s engaged, she realizes she loves him herself and sets out to get him, with only days before the wedding.


Tagline – A comedy about finding your heart and losing your head.

Runtime: 1 Hour 45 Minutes

There may be spoilers in the rest of the review

Verdict: Simple Rom Com

Story: My Best Friend’s Wedding starts when successful author Julianne Potter (Roberts) who learns that her best friend Michael O’Neal (Mulroney) is getting married, which turns the switch in her mind that she is still in love with him. Julianne decides to wants to try and break up the engagement, when she learns Kimberly Wallace (Diaz) is completely aware of the position Julianne will have in Michael’s heart.

As Julianne’s plan to try and win Michael back, things get complicated when her editor George (Everett) comes to support her, which leads to her panicking and claiming they are engaged.

Thoughts on My Best Friend’s Wedding

Characters – Julianne Potter is a successful author, she always put her career ahead of love, which is why her best friend is Michael and not her partner, she learns about his engagement and decides she wants to break them up, she is always planning on trying to stay ahead of the game, though she isn’t brave enough to say how she really feels. She doesn’t come off as likeable, which is the point sometimes selfish and always unsure about wanting to commit to anything. Michael is the best friend that is going to get married, he wants Julianne back to celebrate with him and must decide how to take the next stage of his life. Kimberly Wallace is the woman that is marrying Michael, she knows how important Julianne is to Michael, which will see her trying to watch over her action. George is the editor for Julianne that is trying to give her the best advice during her decision.

PerformancesJulia Roberts in the leading role is solid enough, it does seem to go against the nice woman characters that she is used to playing. Dermot Mulroney, Cameron Diaz and Rupert Everett do a simple enough job in the supporting roles.

StoryThe story here follows a woman that wants to break up her best friend before he gets married and must start to focus on her own life. This story does show how love can come and go, but will always be there, it is about whether you take your chances at the right times or whether you want to become the bad person by trying to take somebody else’s happiness. It shows just how far Julianne would go to make something out her past relationship no caring who she steps on. It doesn’t paint the main character as being very nice, because they are purely selfish.

Comedy/RomanceThe comedy is basic through the film, it doesn’t get too serious with the laughs. The romance in the film is more about how Julianne believes she loves her friend and will try to fight for his love.

SettingsThe film uses the wedding preparation settings for the backdrop for most of the film, we get to see where the character would be and how they would look to get what they want.


Scene of the Movie – The lesson learned.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Julianne isn’t a likeable character.

Final Thoughts This is a basic rom com, it does show how people can try to make up for their mistakes in love, but in the end, it does end up feeling like nothing much happens.

Overall: Basic stuff.