Film
Muriel’s Wedding
- Director
- P.J. Hogan
- Certificate
- 15
- Running Time
- 105 mins
Down in the stifling seaside resort of Porpoise Spit, fat, frumpy Muriel (Toni Collette) lives in her own private fantasy world of bridal catalogues and Abba songs, dreaming of the day she’ll find a suitably eligible hunk to restore her self-esteem and whisk her away from smalltown hell. And there’s plenty to flee. Dad (Bill Hunter) is a vulgar, philandering political wheeler-dealer who fixes it for foreign businessmen to concrete over local beaches and publicly blames his “bloody useless” family for his failure to get elected under his slogan ‘You Can’t Stop Progress’. And Muriel’s attempts at friendship are constantly rebuffed by a trio of high school bimbos, nicknamed “the cocksuckers” for reasons that become graphically apparent, because she wears the wrong clothes and listens to seventies music instead of Nirvana. Tricking her doormat of a mum (Jeanie Drynan) into handing over one of dad’s blank cheques, Muriel escapes to Sydney in search of Mr. Right . . .
P.J. Hogan – not the Crocodile Dundee bloke, but the hubby of award-winning Proof director Jocelyn Moorhouse – assembled a well-chosen cast of outstanding character actors for his 1994 feature debut. Bill Hunter, whom you’ll recognise from Strictly Ballroom and The Adventures of Priscilla, contributes a frighteningly credible portrait of municipal corruption. Jeanie Drynan, whose credits go back as far as Skippy and Bruce Beresford’s classic Don’s Party, is outstanding as his long-suffering wife. But it’s the then-unknown Toni Collette who steals it with a brilliant, career-making performance as Muriel, charting an extraordinary visual transformation as her unconventional big day approaches. Hogan’s script sparkles with wit, from subtle satire to low comedy, the flow of laughs eventually reducing to a trickle when the plot takes an agreeably unpredictable dark turn in the final reel. If he seems unsure as to how to wrap it up at the end, that’s a minor objection to what deservedly became a cult classic.
Queer Vision presents this outdoor drag cabaret screening at the Trinity Centre, hosted by Annette Curtain, for which you are are invited to dress up in your best wedding outfit. ‘Performance interventions’, disruptions and surprises are promised. Go here for tickets and further information.
is needed now More than ever
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
