Maybe it's just me. I tend to put myself into the situation in movies. But Lord have mercy with this one... What a depressing town, and its people, and their negativity... Ugh. I know that's the point but everything is such trailer trash amplified. Must be a Queensland thing, because anybody like that in Melbourne lives waaaay out in the bush (or is just really poor).
CDEGFEDCC. (Shhh!)
I can understand your feelings Waigon, but I don't think Muriel's Wedding should be thought of as a straight comedy. There are quite significant dramatic passages throughout the film particularly in the second half.
In terms of the Heslop family I think it's suggested that we believe that all members (including the mother) have been psychologically damaged by a domineering, negatively thinking, egocentric father who has cared little about their upbringing and paths in life.
I do agree that the stereotyping of the town (a thinly disguised Gold Coast) itself and some of the characters is fairly pronounced.
I think Muriel's Wedding is a good example of what Australia does better than anyone. They mix comedy and dram together so perfectly you can swallow it all in one shot. Brilliant.
shareI didn't like it at all. It's well-done and the comedy was very funny but the drama...talk about bleak! It was depressing and treated some wonderful characters viciously. SPOILERS!!!! The fate of Muriel's mom was horrendous. We see that poor woman being misteated from the beginning to the end. Why? Even worse was Rhonda who ends up in a wheelchair. Why? Is she being punished for loving life and sleeping around? And the poor guy who loves Muriel. When I saw him in the church the look on his face broke my heart. this got way too cruel for me to like. And, even worse, the villains of the piece (Muriel's dad and her "friends") are all A OK at the end. It seems like the filmmakers love the villains and hate the main characters.
sharethats really interesting that you say the villains come out on top. never thought of it that way. and yes, the death of muriel's mother was almost too much to bear.
shareThere’s more to it than that; it goes deeper.
The villains aren’t really okay because they’re stuck in Porpoise Spit. Plus they all have other drawbacks to contend with:
Muriel’s father is stuck with her siblings. He expected Muriel to stay in town and look after them but she told him he had to face up to his responsibilities for himself.
The horrible school friends have sunk pretty low— so low that they had recently taken up pushing Rhonda around in her wheelchair, but they can’t even do that anymore because she went back to Sydney with Muriel.
In this case that is right. Muriel´s Wedding is a very good mix between comedy and dram altough for me, at the end of the day, is more comedy (a funny one) than everything else.
shareYes, it´s bleak and depressing and negative, but that´s what makes it "real". In any Hollywood romantic comedy there will be slap-stick comedy, and the main character always ends up with their love-interest, AND the "villains" get their just deserts. How often does that happen IRL? Can you really identify with a character in a Hollywood movie?
Without spoiling anything, the ending of Muriels Wedding is surprising and positive. The "lesson" is easily understood and worth following.
It was really depressing, I don't like comedy films that have such unfairness on so many characters.
How could she have such a heartless dad?
Ashmi any question
I only seen it once and found it very depressing.
shareSome passages are indeed dramatic, that is right, but this is also,on the other hand, a funny and amusing movie.
shareAgreed. I laughed at parts of it for sure, however my heart sank over the fate of her poor mother. Everyone in that house either ignored her or treated her with such disrespect. It hurt to watch. The town they lived in was depressing too, so I can understand why Muriel wanted out. Her father and her brothers were just horrible people.
share