I first saw this movie in the theater and thought it was good, but not spectacular. When it came out on video, I remember liking it so I decided to re-watch. That's when it call started to fall into place. The more times I've watched, the more I realized the subtle details that I had missed the previous times. It just kept getting better. Then there's the soundtrack of ABBA music which just makes you want to dance.

This is truly a great Australian film, and still holds up after all these years. The film has always hit a nerve with me in terms of the Heslop's family dynamics (Mum, make Dad a cup of tea!). I can only speak for myself but I grew up in Queensland around the same time (I am aware this was made in New South Wales) and my experience with my family definitely resonates with that of Muriel's with her family. I really thought at the time this came out that this type of family dysfunction was 'an Aussie thing', but I know better than that now that I am older and wiser. I've never thought of this as a comedy although it has some very funny moments. Even now, I have to be in the mood for Muriel's Wedding due to it's brutally harsh treatment of it's characters. The film is vicious and unrelenting and has made me cry more than once. But it's also a cathartic experience, about a person with flaws like all of us, who is trying to find her own identity, and, despite what she has been conditioned to believe, that she is worthy.

Muriel Heslop (Toni Collette) is the fat ridiculed girl. She catches the wedding bouquet and all the girls pressure her to give it up. Her family is a bunch of lay-abouts. Her father Bill is a bully and her mother is a pushover. Bill is a corrupt local politician in Porpoise Spit, Australia. Muriel daydreams, lies and steals. Deidre Chambers offers a job and her mother gives her a blank cheque to be paid to Deidre. Instead Muriel uses it for a vacation and finding a husband. She is spotted by Rhonda Epinstalk (Rachel Griffiths) from her childhood. She decides to run away to Syndey where she lives with Rhonda. Bill walks out on the family and is under investigation. Rhonda becomes a paraplegic from a tumor.This is such a quirky funny Australian indie filled with dark wacky characters. It is such an odd unique movie. The humor comes from anger and mostly unlikeable characters. Muriel is not a normal character. She's insanely clingy, secretly bitter and outwardly delusional. The only normal character is Epinstalk and she faces some real darkness. The whole movie has a lot of darkness. There is a good deal of both laughing at Muriel and along with Muriel. There is also something ABBA that fits the craziness. It is both cheesy and upbeat. It keeps the movie from crumbling under the weight of Muriel's behavior and the small mindedness. Things get quite dark but it never succumbs to it. The last half's tone turn dark and ends in a very uplifting feel.

First of all, this is obviously a chick-flick (I mean, it's a movie in which the main character is obsessed with getting married, so how could it not be one?) and if you purely take it as such, this movie still serves its purpose well and is also maintaining enough. However as a movie itself it is far too uneven and does just too much wrong to consider this a great movie in its sort.It's one of those movies that tries to combine humor with drama. And it's not very successful or effective at that, in my opinion. The movie never finds the right balance, since its comedy and characters themselves are being far too over-the-top, which never blends in very well with the movie its, supposedly, dramatic moments.But also a big problem of the movie lays with the movie its main character, played by Toni Collette. She lies to her best friends and own family, she steals and runs of with people's money and also doesn't always comes across as too bright. Somethings obviously wrong with her but in this movie you obviously are supposed to care for her and her naivety is supposed to be something sweet. Needless to say this did not always worked out that way for me at all.But it remains a movie with a sort of charm to it still. I mean, despite everything it remains a pleasant movie to watch, even while it still annoyed me at certain moments. But perhaps that is also because this is obviously supposed to be a chick-flick and I am clearly no chick last time I checked. So it's fair to say this movie is not really for me and women will be more capable of appreciating this movie for what it is.The story is also really lacking some focus at times. Sometimes certain plot lines are simply getting dropped and it often makes some sudden jumps with its story, that don't always connect too well. This also definitely goes at the expense of certain characters in this movie, which I was often more interested in.You can still see how this movie partly inspired 'Mamma Mia!' the musical and later also movie. The ABBA music often plays a central role in the movie and it often has the same sort of happy-go-lucky, colorful, type of atmosphere to it. Good and straightforward enough as a chick-flick but other than that, far too flawed to consider this a great movie.6/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/