Leave it to the English to come up with a winning farce like Mike Newell's Four Weddings and a Funeral. Like the wonderfully dry, droll sitcoms they're known for and the superbly witty film spoofs like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, Four Weddings and a Funeral is clever, hilarious, touching, and enchantingly unique; it's a sure cure for all that ails you, and it never insults the intelligence of its audience. It's clearly one of the best comedies made in the last quarter century.
Four Weddings and a Funeral (Blu-ray)
Directed by Mike Newell
Studio: MGM/UA
Year: 1994
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 1080p AVC codec
Running Time: 118 minutes
Rating: R
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English; DTS 5.1 French, others
Subtitles: SDH, Spanish, French, others
Region: A
MSRP: $ 16.99
Release Date: July 5, 2011
Review Date: July 29, 2011
The Film
5/5
It's a virtually plotless comedy. A young British man Charles (Hugh Grant) reflects on his unmarried state as he attends a series of weddings of friends. He meets a ravishing American girl (Andie MacDowell) at the first wedding, and then he spends the rest of the film deciding if she's the right girl for him. By the time he realizes that she is (we've known it all along), it's too late. Or is it? During the course of his deliberations, we're fortunate enough to get to know a cadre of his friends, a collection of wonderful characters, all quirkily individual and captivatingly real. There's rich Tom (James Fleet) who's a bit of a square but a good sport about it, quiet Fiona (Kristen Scott Thomas) who carries a torch for our Charles, animated Gareth (Simon Callow) who's always there with a quip, the brooding Matt (John Hannah) whose eyes reveal depths of the human soul in the film's most touching moments, new age free spirit Scarlett (Charlotte Coleman) gliding effortlessly through life, and Charles' sweet natured deaf mute brother David (David Bower).
Each of the film's four weddings is a stunningly hilarious set piece, each unique and grandly comic and each completely individual. In the second one, a fledgling priest (Rowan Atkinson) tries mightily but in vain to get through the service without flubs. But we had met him in the first wedding, as we had the eventual bride and groom of the second affair. That's part of the magic of this comedy: Writer Richard Curtis is patient enough to set up the jokes well in advance and wait for their powerful payoffs later. American comedies don't seem to be able to wait more than a few seconds before trying a punch line, and perhaps that's why American film comedies sometimes seem so juvenile and simplistic compared to the sophisticated humor and adult situations portrayed in this wonderful movie.
Hugh Grant has had some wonderful starring roles in movies, but this is the film which made his international reputation known. He's a great Everyman enlisting the audience's sympathy at every turn and being alternately humorous and languishing as the film progresses. Andie MacDowell's line readings are sometimes flat, but she sparkles just enough to draw a clear difference between her and Grant's other female attachments. Every one of the actors has been chosen superbly for his role, with Simon Callow and John Hannah standing out as respectively the most brazen and most sincere of the bunch. Anna Chancellor as a jilted former girl friend of Charles is also touchingly human. Not only does director Mike Newell take the time to set up the jokes properly, he also lavishes time on the wonderful facial expressions of the actors, of the glorious purples, greens, and browns of early morning settings, and on the handsome interiors of the various churches and homes where these weddings and receptions take place. It is fluid and effortless direction at its classiest.
Video Quality
4/5
The film’s 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio is delivered in 1080p using the AVC codec. It’s a warm and welcome transfer, neither brazenly sharp nor unaccountably soft but hitting a nice balance between the two. Colors are well saturated, and flesh tones are completely natural and realistic. Black levels aren’t the deepest possible, but they’re generally acceptable. Apart from some occasional dust specks, there are no distracting age-related artifacts. The film has been divided into 32 chapters.
Audio Quality
4/5
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix is surprisingly effective for a comedy from the 1990s. The sound mixers have gone to the trouble to place ambient sounds throughout the soundfield making the weddings and receptions much more alive sounding than they might otherwise have been. Richard Rodney Bennett’s spare score and a number of pop songs on the soundtrack get very effective placement in the fronts and rears. Dialogue, a major component of the piece, has been excellently recorded and resides in the center channel.
Special Features
4.5/5
The audio commentary was recorded in 2004 by director Mike Newell, producer Duncan Kenworthy, and writer Richard Curtis. Though they’re working off ten year old memories, the trio manage to keep a lively conversation going about their work together on the project, despite some heated disputes during its making. Very candid and revelatory, the commentary is well worth a listen.
All of the bonus featurettes apart from the trailer are presented in 480i.
“Four Weddings and a Funeral: In the Making” is a 1994 EPK featurette produced by Polygram to sell the movie. It runs 7 ¾ minutes and features brief sound bites from director Mike Newell, producer Duncan Kenworthy, writer Richard Curtis, and stars Hugh Grant, Andy McDowell, and Simon Callow.
“The Wedding Planners” is the first in a series of 2004 featurettes produced for the DVD release. This 29 ¾-minute featurette features the same interviewees as above but ten years later after enjoying the huge international success of the movie.
“Two Actors and a Director” finds Mike Newell, Hugh Grant, and Andie McDowell discussing the casting of the film and particular memories they have of its making.
There are five deleted scenes with optional introductions by producer Duncan Kenworthy. Together they run 10 minutes. The viewer can choose to watch each scene individually.
Two promotional featurettes introducing the movie by its two stars are presented. Hugh Grant’s introduction runs ½ minute. Andie McDowell’s intro runs 1 ¼ minutes. Producer Duncan Kenworthy discusses the reasons for the making of these promotions.
The original theatrical trailer is presented in 1080p and runs for 2 ¼ minutes.
In Conclusion
4.5/5 (not an average)
Four Weddings and a Funeral takes its place among the supremely triumphant comedies of the last few decades, as wonderful and as winning a combination of romance, friendship, and shared loss as any movie is ever likely to show. It's a gratifying and liberating good time, and the Blu-ray release offers very good picture and sound and ports the supplements from previous releases to make a complete and welcome package. Highly recommended!
Matt Hough
Charlotte, NC
