| My Best Friend's Wedding | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | P. J. Hogan |
| Produced by | Jerry Zucker Ronald Bass Gil Netter Patricia Whitcher |
| Written by | Ronald Bass |
| Starring | Julia Roberts Dermot Mulroney Cameron Diaz Rupert Everett Philip Bosco |
| Music by | James Newton Howard |
| Cinematography | László Kovács |
| Editing by | Garth Craven Lisa Fruchtman |
| Studio | Zucker Brothers Productions |
| Distributed by | TriStar Pictures |
| Release date(s) | June 20, 1997 |
| Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English French Italian |
| Budget | $46 million |
| Box office | $299,288,605 |
My Best Friend's Wedding is a 1997 romantic comedy film directed by P. J. Hogan. It stars Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Dermot Mulroney, Rupert Everett, and Philip Bosco.
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Commercially, it was one of the top 8 highest grossing films worldwide in 1997.
The soundtrack song "I Say a Little Prayer (For You)" was covered by singer Diana King and featured heavily in the film, making it a Billboard Top 20 hit. The soundtrack featured a number of Burt Bacharach/Hal David songs.
Contents |
Julianne Potter (Julia Roberts), a 27-year-old New York restaurant critic, receives a call from her longtime friend Michael O'Neil (Dermot Mulroney). In college, the two made an agreement that if neither of them were married by the time they turned 28, they would marry each other. Three weeks before her 28th birthday, Michael tells her that in four days, he will marry Kimberly Wallace (Cameron Diaz), a 20-year-old University of Chicago student from a wealthy family.
Julianne is upset that Michael will marry someone so wrong for him, and someone he has known for such a short period of time. She realizes that she is in love with Michael, and heads to Chicago, intent on sabotaging his wedding. Soon after arriving she meets Kimberly, who asks her to be the maid of honor. This sets off a comical scenario in which Julianne must pretend to be the dutiful maid of honor while secretly scheming ways to prevent the wedding from happening. She engages in petty sabotage - for example, taking Kimberly and Michael to a karaoke bar after discovering that Kimberly is a terrible singer - and later asks her gay friend George Downes (Rupert Everett) to pretend they are engaged, hoping to make Michael jealous.
When these tactics fail, George persuades Julianne to do the obvious: tell Michael she is in love with him. On the morning of the wedding, Julianne confesses her love to Michael, asks him to marry her instead, and kisses him passionately. Kimberly witnesses this and runs off; Michael chases her, and Julianne pursues him unsuccessfully. Julianne finally accepts that she has lost Michael to Kimberly, so she apologizes to her and explains that she kissed Michael unexpectedly, but he didn't kiss her back because he loved Kimberly. Michael marries Kimberly, and Julianne wishes them well, consoled by her platonic friend George.
The film opened at #2 at the North American box office making $21,678,377 USD in its opening weekend behind Batman & Robin.[1]
My Best Friend's Wedding currently holds a 71% 'Fresh' rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus "Thanks to a charming performance from Julia Roberts and a subversive spin on the genre, My Best Friend's Wedding is a refreshingly entertaining romantic comedy."[2]
American Film Institute recognition:
The soundtrack was released through Work Soundtrax in 1997.
| Year | Chart | Position |
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| 1997 | Australian ARIA Albums Chart | 1 |
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