My Best Friend's Wedding

This article is about the Julia Roberts film. For the Scrubs episode, see My Best Friend's Wedding (Scrubs).

My Best Friend's Wedding
Theatrical release poster
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 (1997-06-20)
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.^{[who?][citation needed]}

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.

Plot

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 convinces 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.

Cast

• Julia Roberts as Julianne Potter
• Dermot Mulroney as Michael O'Neal
• Cameron Diaz as Kimberly Wallace
• Rupert Everett as George Downes
• Philip Bosco as Walter Wallace
• M. Emmet Walsh as Joe O'Neal
• Rachel Griffiths as Samantha Newhouse
• Carrie Preston as Mandy Newhouse
• Susan Sullivan as Isabelle Wallace
• Chris Masterson as Scotty O'Neal
• Paul Giamatti as Richard the Bellman
• Harry Shearer as Jonathan P.F. Ritt

Release

Box office

The film opened at #2 at the North American box office making $21,678,377 USD in its opening weekend behind Batman & Robin.^[1]

Critical reception

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]

Awards and recognition

• MTV Movie Awards (Nominations)
  • Best Breakthrough Performance: Rupert Everett
  • Best Comedic Performance: Rupert Everett
  • Best Female Performance: Julia Roberts
• Golden Globe Award (Nominations)
  • Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
  • Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture - Rupert Everett
  • Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy: Julia Roberts
• BAFTA Awards (Nominations)
  • Best Supporting Actor: Rupert Everett
• Academy Awards (Nominations)
  • Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score: James Newton Howard
• Satellite Awards (Win)
  • Best Supporting Actor - Musical or Comedy: Rupert Everett
• Satellite Awards (Nominations)
  • Best Film - Musical or Comedy
  • Best Actress - Musical Or Comedy: Julia Roberts
  • Best Supporting Actress - Musical or Comedy: Cameron Diaz
• American Comedy Award (Win)
  • Funniest Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture: Rupert Everett

Soundtrack

1. "I Say a Little Prayer (For You)" - Diana King
2. "Wishin' and Hopin'" - Ani DiFranco
3. "You Don't Know Me" - Jann Arden
4. "Tell Him" - The Exciters
5. "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself"- Nicky Holland
6. "I'll Be Okay" - Amanda Marshall
7. "The Way You Look Tonight" - Tony Bennett
8. "What the World Needs Now Is Love" - Jackie Deshannon
9. "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" - Mary Chapin Carpenter
10. "Always You" - Sophie Zelmani
11. "If You Wanna Be Happy" - Jimmy Soul
12. "I Say a Little Prayer (For You)" - The Cast of My Best Friends Wedding
13. "Suite From My Best Friends Wedding" - James Newton Howard

Chart positions

Year	Chart	Position
1997	Australian ARIA Albums Chart	1

References

1. ^ My Best Friend's Wedding at Box Office Mojo
2. ^ My Best Friend's Wedding at Rotten Tomatoes

External links

• My Best Friend's Wedding at the Internet Movie Database
• My Best Friend's Wedding at the TCM Movie Database
• My Best Friend's Wedding at AllRovi
• My Best Friend's Wedding at Box Office Mojo
• My Best Friend's Wedding at Rotten Tomatoes
• My Best Friend's Wedding at Metacritic